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[Cites 2, Cited by 513] [Constitution]
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Constitution Article

Article 370 in Constitution of India

370. Temporary provisions with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir

(1)Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution,--
(a)the provisions of article 238 shall not apply in relation to the State of Jammu and Kashmir;
(b)the power of Parliament to make laws for the said State shall be limited to-
(i)those matters in the Union List and the Concurrent List which, in consultation with the Government of the State, are declared by the President to correspond to matters specified in the Instrument of Accession governing the accession of the State to the Dominion of India as the matters with respect to which the Dominion Legislature may make laws for that State; and
(ii)such other matters in the said Lists as, with the concurrence of the Government of the State, the President may by order specify.
Explanation.--For the purposes of this article, the Government of the State means the person for the time being recognised by the President as the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir acting on the advice of the Council of Ministers for the time being in office under the Maharaja's Proclamation dated the fifth day of March, 1948;
(c)the provisions of article 1 and of this article shall apply in relation to that State;
(d)such of the other provisions of this Constitution shall apply in relation to that State subject to such exceptions and modifications as the President may by orderspecify:
Provided that no such order which relates to the matters specified in the Instrument of Accession of the State referred to in paragraph (i) of sub-clause (b) shall be issued except in consultation with the Government of the State:Provided further that no such order which relates to matters other than those referred to in the last preceding proviso shall be issued except with the concurrence of that Government.
(2)If the concurrence of the Government of the State referred to in paragraph (ii) of sub-clause (b) of clause (1) or in the second proviso to sub-clause (d) of that clause be given before the Constituent Assembly for the purpose of framing the Constitution of the State is convened, it shall be placed before such Assembly for such decision as it may take thereon.
(3)Notwithstanding anything in the foregoing provisions of this article, the President may, by public notification, declare that this article shall cease to be operative or shall be operative only with such exceptions and modifications and from such date as he may specify:Provided that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State referred to in clause (2) shall be necessary before the President issues such a notification.[Editorial Note-Article 370 of the Constitution of India provided a special status to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, granting it a degree of autonomy within the Indian union. Article 370 was incorporated into the Constitution of India as a temporary provision, with the intention of providing a framework for negotiations between the Indian government and the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir to determine the state's final political status. This was done through the instrument of a Presidential Order in 1954, which extended various provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir, subject to certain modifications. Article 370 was incorporated into the Constitution of India as a temporary provision, with the intention of providing a framework for negotiations between the Indian government and the leadership of Jammu and Kashmir to determine the state's final political status. This was done through the instrument of a Presidential Order in 1954, which extended various provisions of the Indian Constitution to Jammu and Kashmir, subject to certain modifications. Article 370 and Article 35A were closely linked in terms of their impact on the constitutional and legal status of Jammu and Kashmir. Article 370 was the constitutional provision that granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, while Article 35A was a legal provision that flowed from Article 370 and gave the state of Jammu and Kashmir the power to define who is a "permanent resident" of the state, and to confer special rights and privileges to these residents. Article 35A was added to the Indian Constitution through a Presidential Order in 1954, which was issued under the authority of Article 370. The provision allowed the Jammu and Kashmir state legislature to define permanent residents of the state and provide them with special rights and privileges, such as the right to own property, access to government jobs, and scholarships. The provision also prohibited non-permanent residents from acquiring any of these rights or privileges. In April 2018, the Supreme Court of India ruled that Article 370 had attained permanency since the state constituent assembly has ceased to exist. To overcome this legal challenge, the Indian government instead rendered Article 370 as 'Inoperative' even though it still exists in the constitution. On 5 August, issued a Presidential Order C.O. 272; the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 which superseded the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954. This in effect meant that the separate Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir stood inoperative, and a single constitution now applied to all the Indian states. The order was issued using the third clause of Article 370, which authorized the President of India to declare the article inoperative with exceptions and modifications, if recommended by the (non-existent) state constituent assembly to do so. To circumvent the legal issue of the non-existent state constituent assembly, the President used the Clause (1) of Article 370, which conferred him with the power to modify the Indian Constitution on subjects related to Jammu and Kashmir. So he first added a new clause to Article 367, which deals with interpretation of the Constitution. He replaced the phrase 'Constituent Assembly of the State' with 'Legislative Assembly of the State'. Since the state legislative assembly has been suspended, the order says that any reference to the legislative assembly will be construed as a reference to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. The governor is an appointee of the Central government. Therefore, the Indian Parliament now functions for the state legislative assembly.]