Article 370 Hearing: Centre Tells SC That Preamble Of The Constitution Was Applied To J&K But Without The Words 'Socialist, Secular'

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta has stated that the Constitution of India's preamble was extended to Jammu and Kashmir, omitting the terms "socialist" and "secular."

The SG made the above remarks in the course of his arguments before the Supreme Court bench hearing out the challenge to abrogation of Article 370.

SG Mehta emphasised that the Constitution of India's preamble was extended to J&K, excluding the words "socialist" and "secular."

He also said that, over time, various provisions of the Indian Constitution were applied to J&K, but in a surprising manner.

He further highlighted that Part IV [Directive Principles of State Policy], Part VI [The States], Part VII [The State in Part B of Schedule 1], Part VIII [Union Territories], Part X [The Scheduled and Tribal Areas], 5th Schedule, 6th Schedule, were not made to apply to J&K.

During a session on August 24, the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud stated that the government cannot justify the means used to abrogate Article 370 and remove Jammu and Kashmir as a full-fledged State in August 2019 by only focusing on the achieved ends.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta argued that the abrogation of Article 370 was not a fraud on the Constitution.

He emphasised that Jammu and Kashmir should not be considered special or unique solely because it had a Constitution in 1939 or certain reservations were mentioned in the Instrument of Accession, as these were seen as a continuation of the State's internal sovereignty.

In a significant move on 5 August 2019, the Central Government made the decision to remove the special status of Jammu and Kashmir and divide it into two Union Territories.

This decision involved the abrogation of Article 370, which had granted special privileges to the region.