SC defers hearing of petition challenging Article 35A till January 2019

The Supreme Court today deferred the hearing in the petition challenging the constitutional validity of Article 35A of the Constitution of India till the second week of January next year..The Bench of Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra and Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud heard the petition today, and decided to take up the matter for hearing after Panchayat polls are concluded in the State of Jammu & Kashmir..The Centre and the State of Jammu and Kashmir pressed for the postponement of the hearing on the ground that the hearing of this case at a time when elections are underway, and could have severe implications on the law and order situation..Attorney General KK Venugopal submitted that a large number of paramilitary forces are deployed in the State for the purpose of elections, and in the event the Court hears the matter right now, the law and order situation will be difficult to contain..Justice Chandrachud remarked that the Court would not want to “precipitate the matter” ahead of elections after ASG Tushar Mehta, arguing for the State of Jammu and Kashmir, told the Court that the elections will be held in phases and are scheduled to end in December..The battery of lawyers appearing for various parties broke out in a hurry to make submissions on merits of the case, when CJI Dipak Misra asked,.“The Article (35A) was inserted in 1954 and you are approaching the Court after 60 years. What is the hurry now?”.Senior Counsel Ranjit Kumar tried to reason with the Court saying that the question of entry of women to Sabarimala temple was also taken up by the Court now, though the practice has been going on for 300 years..“That question was not about a Constitutional amendment”, CJI Misra responded..The State of Jammu & Kashmir had earlier circulated a letter praying for the adjournment of this matter. Today, the Court has fixed the hearing for January next year, keeping in mind the security situation in the State..Read the order below.