The Chief Justice of India hearing petitions on the repeal of Article 35-A of the Constitution has adjourned the hearing, saying the third judge Justice D Y Chandrachud of the three-judge bench, was not present. The three-judge bench will now hear the case on August 27.

The three-judge bench been hearing the case has to decide whether the issue of Article 35 A has to be referred to a Constitutional bench, says the SC. "We will only have to see whether Article 35 A goes against basic structure of the Constitution," the SC said.


Article 35A, incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, confers special status to the permanent residents of Jammu and Kashmir, and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the state.


A batch of petitions challenged the constitutional validity of the Article 35A. A Supreme Court bench headed by the then Chief Justice J S Khehar referred the matter to a three-judge bench.


Delhi-based NGO We the Citizens, in its petition, argued that Article 35A goes against the "very spirit of oneness of India" as it creates a "class within a class of Indian citizens".