The Supreme Court verdict dismissing the challenges to the abrogation of Article 370 opens a Pandora’s box, the Communist Party of India (Marxist) said in a statement here, pointing out that if the Governor’s concurrence can be substituted for the State Assembly’s opinion then boundaries of any State can be altered after putting it under the President’s rule.
The verdict, the party said, is “disturbing; and has serious consequences for the federal structure of our Constitution.” In a post on X, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said the judgment was inclined to “strengthen a unitary state structure in the name of ‘integration’ and by invoking ‘national security’.”
When a State is under President’s rule and its statehood is dissolved, in the absence of an elected Legislative Assembly can the concurrence of the President-appointed Governor be taken as the substitute, the party asked. “Again, this has serious consequences for all other States where President’s rule can be imposed and its boundaries altered or statehood dissolved,” the statement said.
Opens the Pandora’s box
The proviso under Article 3 of the Constitution states that the President shall refer the Bill for reorganisation of any State to the legislature of the State concerned to elicit its opinion. “This verdict opens the Pandora’s box permitting the Central government to unilaterally initiate the formation of new States, alteration of areas, boundaries or names of existing States. This may well lead to serious undermining of federalism and the rights of the elected State legislatures,” the statement added.
CPI general secretary D. Raja also questioned the judgment, saying that crucial questions have been left unanswered. “The haste on the part of the BJP government, zero consultation with people or political parties of Jammu and Kashmir and the stubbornness, all smell of authoritarianism,” Mr. Raja said.
