Above: Supreme Court

The matter concerning Article 35A, which empowers the J&K legislature to take a call on permanent residents of the state came up before the Supreme Court on Monday (Aug 14). The two-judge bench headed by Justice Dipak Misra felt that all pleas questioning its constitutional validity should be placed before a five-judge bench, considering the constitutional issues involved.

The Court’s observation came against a plea filed by lawyer Charu Ali Khanna. It was tagged along with another pending petition on the same issue by the apex court.

The Centre has already given its opinion on the subject in front of the Court—it wants a larger discussion and debate on the issue.

The petitioner argued that Article 35A is tilted towards the male citizens of the state as even though they may marry a female from outside J&K, their citizenship remains intact, which is, however, not the case with female residents of the state. Khanna gave examples of Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Farooq Abdullah and his son Omar Abdullah. She pointed out that both had married females from outside the state but did not lose their citizenship.

—India Legal Bureau