A day before the Supreme Court is due to hear a case about Article 35A, Bar Association Jammu was all set on Sunday to plead support to abrogation of the special constitutional provision and demand making the lawyers’ body a party to the case. A BAJ team comprising some of its members, its president and a former chief justice has reached Delhi to appear in the case based on a bunch of petitions demanding annulment of the Article which allows the state legislature to define permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir and bars others from buying land in the state.
“We will move an application in the Supreme Court tomorrow (Monday) pleading that Bar Association Jammu should also be made party in the case as we are also a stakeholder in this matter,” BS Slathia, president of BAJ told Greater Kashmir.
In its General House meeting recently, the BAJ had appointed a team of senior advocates for opposing the constitutional provision that also reserves for state subjects privileges like claim to government jobs and scholarships.
Three advocates of BAJ, president BS Slathia, general secretary PremSadhotra and former Chief Justice of Sikkim and a senior advocate ParmodKohli will be appearing in the apex court on Monday to oppose Article 35A and support its abrogation form the constitution of India.
The Governor administration is understood to have recommended the Court defer the August 6 hearing until a ‘popular government’ was in place in the state.
Slathia said an aim of appearing in the case on Monday was also to “closely watch as to what the other parties, who are in favor of retaining Article 35A in Jammu and Kashmir, say in the court.”
“We will oppose tooth and nail the arguments put in the court by the parties who are in favor of retaining the Article 35A in Jammu and Kashmir,” Slathia said.