New Delhi, August 5, 2025 

The Supreme Court of India is scheduled to hear a plea on August 8 seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir, a region that was downgraded to Union Territory status following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019.

The matter has emerged through a miscellaneous application filed in the disposed Constitution Bench judgment on Article 370, which had upheld the constitutional validity of the Centre’s move to revoke J&K’s special status. The applicants are now urging the apex court to direct the Union Government to fulfill its assurance to restore statehood, as noted in the Court’s own December 2023 verdict.

The application has been filed by Zahoor Ahmed Bhat, a lecturer who was one of the original petitioners in the Article 370 case, and Khurshaid Ahmad Malik, a social worker from the region. Represented by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the applicants have pressed for a directive to the Centre to take immediate steps to reinstate full statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.

During a brief mentioning before Justice B.R. Gavai’s bench, the Court agreed to retain the matter in its causelist for hearing on August 8 and allowed the petitioners to serve notice to the Centre.

In its December 11, 2023 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the Centre’s move to abrogate Article 370 but took judicial note of the Solicitor General’s statement that statehood would be restored in due course. The Court had also directed the holding of Assembly elections in J&K by September 30, 2024.

While the Election Commission has initiated groundwork for polls, no concrete timeline for the restoration of statehood has been communicated publicly by the Centre so far.

The plea is being closely watched as it seeks to revisit an issue that remains deeply sensitive in the region and politically significant at the national level. It tests the federal structure of the Constitution, especially the conditions under which a full-fledged state can be reduced to a Union Territory – and later restored.

Case Title:Zahoor Ahmed Bhat & Anr. v. Union of India (Misc. Application in In Re: Article 370 of the Constitution)