New Delhi: Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that the “Himalayan constitutional blunder of the past” had been corrected by the Centre as the Supreme Court on Monday upheld the constitutionality of the abrogation of Article 370, which gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

I can confidently say that the soul of Sardar Patel will be fully content today

S-G Mehta issued a statement shortly after the top court rendered its judgement on a batch of petitions challenging the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The senior lawyer deemed the court’s take on the issue and interpretation of the law as a historical day for him too.

“5th August 2019 and today’s date will go down in the history of India when a Himalayan constitutional blunder of the past with gigantic proportions is ultimately corrected by the government,” S-G Mehta said.

“Through constitutional and legal means before 5th August 2019 and having led the arguments before the constitution bench of the Supreme Court while defending the constitutional process, it is a historical day for me too,” he said.

“It is only the iron will of our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and the resolute decisiveness and brilliant strategy of our Hon’ble Home Minister Shri Amit Shah ji which made this historical decision possible,” S-G Mehta said in his first statement after the top court’s order.

Expressing his gratitude to the Supreme Court judges who pronounced and chaired the verdict, S-G Mehta said, “Very patient hearing given to all sides for more than three weeks. And, today comes a judgement which will go down in the history of this great country exhibiting astounding scholarship, concern for the Rule of Law and a visible concern for the fundamental rights of equality of every resident of J&K, irrespective of religion, sex, caste or creed.”

The Centre, via Presidential order in August 2019 revoked Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The batch of pleas before the top court contended its validity and deemed it unconstitutional.

Welcoming the top court’s order, S-G Mehta said, “Having extensively read the history behind the insertion of Article 370 into our Constitution, I can confidently say that the soul of Sardar Patel will be fully content today as the provision which he could not prevent from being inserted in the Constitution of India has finally gone. He must be showering his blessings upon Shri Narendra Modi ji and Shri Amit Shah ji.”

The Supreme Court ruled that Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, is a temporary provision. It held that the power of the President to issue a notification that Article 370 ceases to exist subsists even after the dissolution of the Jammu and Kashmir Constituent Assembly. It also underlined that the Presidential orders abrogating Article 370 was not mala fide.

The court was pronouncing its order on a batch of petitions challenging the validity of the abrogation of Article 370. In a unanimous verdict on Monday, a five-judge bench, headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, held that the Presidential orders revoking the special status of Jammu and Kashmir were not mala fide, and they stand valid.