New Delhi: September 18, 2019. (PCP) “The Presidential Order scrapping of Article 35-A from Chapter-III of the Indian Constitution on August 5, 2019 became effective the very day when it notification was issued by the President scrapping Article 35-A which was promulgated in May 1954 by the Presidential Order. This Presidential Order was issued by the President who had constitutional authority to remove it as it was signed by the Presidential order in May 1954. Why this order continued or kept alive for such a long time against the mandate of the Constitution is a matter of history. Some politicians/bureaucrats are trying to confuse Article 35-A into the field of Article 370, which is totally unacceptable and does not convey the message of the constitutional law. Effects of Article 35-A disappeared on the morning of August 6, 2019 and the Constitution of India was left with Chapter-III, Article 12 to Article 35 intact as it was written by the Constituent Assembly. Article 35-A was promulgated by the then President of India on the request of the then Prime Minister of India for a particular reason which all parliamentarians shall understand. The State Assembly/Govt. had no power/authority to keep Sheikh Mohd. Abdullah the dismissed Prime Minister of J&K in jail for more than three months because the fundamental rights provided in the Constitution of India in its Chapter-III were applicable to J&K to every Indian citizen. To keep Sheikh Abdullah in prison without trial it was necessary to introduce appropriate amendment in the Chapter on Fundamental Rights. State of J&K or any other state had no jurisdiction to amend any provision on fundamental rights in Chapter-III. It was at that time that President of India was requested/urged by the Prime Minister of India in 1954 to amend Article 35 so that the fundamental rights to residents of J&K could be curtailed. This authority was transferred to the administration of J&K in 1954.” This sad story on the imposition of Article 35-A was narrated by Prof.Bhim Singh who is Sr. Executive Member of the Supreme Court Bar Association & a postgraduate in Law from London University with distinction.

Prof.Bhim Singh who is also Supremo of National Panthers Party requested the media persons, the Hon’ble lawyers and the parliamentarians to try to understand this subtle difference between Article 35-A and Article 370. Article 370 was an Act of Parliament of India as it was proposed by the Constituent Assembly of India. Article 370 could have been amended only by the Act of Parliament and not by any other executive authority. It was for this reason that the President of India signed the Law for the amendment of Article 370 which shall be applicable only after October 31, 2019. On the other hand Article 35-A lost its existence the moment it was signed by the President. Therefore, Article 35-A should be considered separately as it has nothing to do with the command or effects caused by the amendment of Article 370. Article 35-A is gone whereas Act of Parliament vis-à-vis Article 370 shall show its effects on surface on November 1, 2019 only.