ARTICLE 370 (Syllabus: GS Paper 2 - Polity)

Context: The Supreme Court raised the question whether the President’s power to declare inoperative Article 370 of the Constitution, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, will not continue to hold the field after the dissolution of the erstwhile State’s Constituent Assembly on January 26, 1957.

Article 370

• The Constituent Assembly of Jammu & Kashmir was empowered to recommend which articles of the Indian Constitution should apply to the state.
• The J&K Constituent Assembly was dissolved after it drafted the state’s constitution.
• Clause 3 of the article 370 gives the President of India the power to amend its provisions and scope.

• Removal of Article 370:

• It commenced with a presidential order issued nearly four years ago.
• Amendments were made to make applicable the entirety of India’s Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K).
• The State was also sundered into two Union Territories: J&K and Ladakh.
• It was done when the State was under President’s Rule with no elected Legislative Assembly in place.