West Pakistan refugees in J&K move SC challenging Article 35A
New Delhi: Some refugees of West Pakistan, who had migrated to India during the 1947 partition, have moved the Supreme Court challenging Article 35A of the Constitution relating to special rights and privileges of permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir.
The petition said there were around 3 lakh refugees from West Pakistan but those settled in Jammu and Kashmir have been denied the rights gauranteed under Article 35A which are given to the original residents of the state.
A bench of Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud tagged the plea of the refugees, who are settled in the Kathua district of Jammu and Kashmir, with the similar matters pending before it.
The apex court had, on the request of Jammu and Kashmir government, posted the matters challenging Article 35A for hearing after Diwali holidays.
Article 35A, which was added to the Constitution by a Presidenial Order in 1954, accords special rights and privileges to citizens of Jammu and Kashmir. It also empowers the state's legislature to frame any law without attracting a challenge on grounds of violating the Right to Equality of people from other states or any other right under the Indian Constitution.
Earlier, a Kashmiri Pandit woman, Dr Charu Wali Khanna, had approached the apex court challenging the provision.
Petitioners Kali Das, his son Sanjay Kumar and one other in their plea have said that they were raising issues seeking conferment of basic natural and human rights which at present were denied to them.
NC team calls on Rajnath, raises issue of Article 35A