The Supreme Court on Tuesday fixed November 14 to commence hearing on a batch of petitions challenging constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Justice N.V. Ramana allowed the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration to file counter-affidavits on petitions challenging scrapping of Article 370.
The top court refused the plea of petitioners that not more than two weeks be given to the Centre and J&K administration for filing counter-affidavits. The apex court also put embargo on filing of any fresh writ petition challenging constitutional validity on abrogation of Article 370.
The bench said one-week time would be for the petitioners to file their replies to the counter-affidavit that would be filed by the Centre and Jammu and Kashmir administration within four weeks.
“We have to allow the Centre and the J&K administration to file counter-affidavit otherwise we can’t decide the matter,” the bench also comprising justices S K Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant said.
