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Article 370 Meaning – Article 370 of the Constitution of India
Article 370 of the Indian Constitution was an article that provided autonomy to Jammu and Kashmir.
In the 21st part of the Constitution, the introductory talk about the article was made – temporary, transitional and special provisions.
The Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, after its establishment, was empowered to recommend articles of the Indian Constitution that should be implemented in the state or to repeal Article 370 altogether.
Article 370 of the Constitution of India
The Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly later drafted the state’s constitution and dissolved itself without recommending the abrogation of Article 370, an article considered a permanent feature of the Indian Constitution.
The Government of India introduced a landmark Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act 2019 in the Rajya Sabha on 5 August 2019 proposing the removal of Article 370 of the Constitution from the state of Jammu and Kashmir and bifurcation of the state into two union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. . Jammu and Kashmir will be a union territory with its own legislature while Ladakh will be a union territory without a legislature.
Special right
According to the provisions of Article 370, Parliament has the power to make laws regarding defence, foreign affairs and communication regarding Jammu and Kashmir, but to implement the law related to any other subject, the Center needs the approval of the state government.
Due to this special status, Article 356 of the Constitution does not apply to the state of Jammu and Kashmir.
Because of this, the President does not have the power to dismiss the constitution of the state.
The Urban Land Act of 1976 does not apply to Jammu and Kashmir.
Under this, the Indian citizen has the right to buy land anywhere in India other than the states with special powers. That is, people from other states of India cannot buy land in Jammu and Kashmir.
Article 360 of the Indian Constitution, under which there is a provision to impose financial emergency in the country, also does not apply to Jammu and Kashmir.
There was a greater need to merge Jammu and Kashmir with India and to carry out this work, some special rights under Article 370 were given to the people of Kashmir at that time. These special rights are being given in the lower section.
Some special things regarding Article 370
1) Article 370 is a part of the Constitution of India.
2) This article is included in the 21st part of the Constitution, which is titled- ‘Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions’.
3) The headline of section 370 reads – “Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”).
4) The provisions under section 370 have been changed from time to time, which started from 1954. The significance of 1954 is that in 1953, the then Wazir-e-Azam Sheikh Abdullah of Kashmir, who was an intimate friend of Jawaharlal Nehru, was arrested and imprisoned. All these amendments have been passed by the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir.
The amended provisions are as follows in under section 370 –
(a) In 1954 the laws and regulations of the Octroi, Central Excise, Civil Aviation and Postal Departments were applied to Jammu and Kashmir.
(b) From 1958, the appointments of IAS and IPS officers of the Central Services started taking place in this state. Along with this, the rights of CAG also came into force on this state.
(e) In 1959, the Indian Census Act came into force on Jammu and Kashmir.
(e) In 1960, the Supreme Court was authorized to accept appeals against the decisions of the Jammu and Kashmir High Court.
(e) In 1964, Articles 356 and 357 of the Constitution were applied to this state. According to this article, the right to impose President’s rule was obtained in case of disturbance of the constitutional order in Jammu and Kashmir.
(e) From 1965, the Central laws related to labor welfare, labor union, social security and social insurance came into force on the state.
(a) In 1966 the Lok Sabha was given the right to send its representative elected by direct vote.
(A) In 1966 itself, the Legislative Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir, making necessary reforms in its constitution – ‘Chief Minister’ in place of ‘Prime Minister’ and ‘Governor’ in place of ‘Sadar-e-Riyasat’ by accepting these designations approved to use. The election of ‘Sadar-e-Riyasat’ was done by the Legislative Assembly, now the Governor was appointed by the President.
(o) In 1968, the High Court of Jammu and Kashmir empowered the Supreme Court to hear appeals on election related matters.
(a) In 1971, under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, the High Court was empowered to try specific types of cases.
(e) In 1986, the provisions of Article 249 of the Indian Constitution came into force on Jammu and Kashmir.
(a) In this section itself, the arrangement for its complete abolition has been given. Sub-section 3 of Article 370 states that “So far as may be contained in the foregoing provisions, the President may, by disclosure, declare that this section shall, except with certain exceptions or modifications, be repealed.”
There is also a proviso to this section. He says that for this the recognition of the Constituent Assembly of the state is needed. But now the Constituent Assembly of the state does not exist. How can a system that does not exist be effective?
It is clear from the letter written by Jawaharlal Nehru to Pt Premnath Bajaj, a leader of Jammu and Kashmir on 21st August 1962, that it was also in his imagination that at some point Article 370 would be abolished. Pandit Nehru wrote in his letter-
“The reality is that in spite of this Article of the Constitution, which is said to be the reason for giving special status to the State of Jammu and Kashmir, many other things have been done and whatever else has to be done, that will also be done. . The main question is of emotion, there is nothing else in it. Sometimes the feeling is the most important thing.”
On 05/08/2019, the Central Government proposed in the Parliament to remove Article 370. Which is as follows:-
In exercise of the powers conferred by clause (1) of Article 370 of the Constitution, the President, with the concurrence of the State Government of Jammu and Kashmir, makes the following order:-
The name of this order is the Constitution (Applicable to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019.
It shall come into force immediately and shall thereafter supersede the Constitution (Applicable to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954, as amended from time to time.
All the provisions of the Constitution as amended from time to time shall apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir and the exceptions and modifications subject to which they shall apply shall be as follows:-
In article 367, the following clause shall be added, namely:-
“(4) For the purposes of the Constitution, in so far as it is applicable in relation to Jammu and Kashmir,—
(a) references to this Constitution or its provisions shall be deemed to be references to the Constitution and its provisions as applicable in relation to the said State;
(b) a person who has been recognized by the President on the recommendation of the Legislative Assembly of the State as the Sadar-i-Riyasat of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers of the corresponding State in office. instructions to him shall be deemed to be instructions to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir.
(c) the directions of the Government of the said State shall be deemed to include directions to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of his Council of Ministers; And
(d) in the proviso to Article 370 of this Constitution, the expression “the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2)” shall be read as “the Legislative Assembly of the State”.
Opposition to Article 370
The opposition to this section started happening in the Congress party only during the time of Nehru.
Bhimrao Ambedkar, the architect of the constitution and the first law minister of India, was a staunch opponent of Article 370. He had refused to draft it. After Ambedkar’s refusal, Sheikh Abdullah approached Nehru and on Nehru’s instructions, N. Gopalaswami Iyengar prepared the draft.
The founder of Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, opposed Article 370 from the very beginning. He took the initiative to fight against it. He had said that due to this India is being divided into small pieces. Mukherjee went on a hunger strike against this law. When he went to Jammu and Kashmir to agitate against it, he was not allowed to enter there. He was arrested. He died mysteriously while in custody on 23 June 1953.
Prakashveer Shastri introduced a resolution to remove Article 370 in Parliament on September 11, 1964. On December 4, 1964, the Home Minister of India, Gulzari Lal Nanda, responded to this bill.
In an official statement from the government, he took a unilateral stand. When other members protested, Nanda said, “This is my opinion, others should not debate on it.” Such an undemocratic approach was adopted. Nanda kept avoiding the topic of Article 370 throughout the discussion.
All they could say was that there are some legal loopholes in the bill. Whereas in this the weakness of the government is clearly visible.
Hindu Mahasabha, Bharatiya Jana Sangh, Bharatiya Janata Party and Shiv Sena have been demanding its removal from the very beginning. Ultimately this section was abolished in August 2019.