Article 370 was a provision of the Constitution of India that conferred a special, semi-autonomous status on the state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). Drafted by N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar and incorporated when the Constitution came into force in 1950, it reflected the unique circumstances of J&K's accession to India in October 1947, when Maharaja Hari Singh signed the Instrument of Accession following a tribal incursion from Pakistan.
Under Article 370, the Indian Parliament's legislative power over J&K was limited largely to defence, foreign affairs, and communications—matters listed in the Instrument of Accession. Other central laws could be extended to the state only with the concurrence of the state government. A related provision, Article 35A (added by a 1954 Presidential Order), allowed the J&K legislature to define "permanent residents" and reserve property rights, government jobs, and scholarships for them.
On 5 August 2019, the Government of India, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, issued Presidential Order C.O. 272 and secured a parliamentary resolution effectively nullifying the operative clauses of Article 370. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 then bifurcated the state into two Union Territories: Jammu and Kashmir (with a legislature) and Ladakh (without one). The move was accompanied by a heavy security deployment, communications blackout, and detention of local political leaders including former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti.
Pakistan downgraded diplomatic ties and suspended bilateral trade in response, while China objected specifically to the Ladakh reorganisation. Petitions challenging the revocation were filed before the Supreme Court of India; in December 2023, a five-judge Constitution Bench in In re: Article 370 of the Constitution unanimously upheld the abrogation, holding Article 370 to be a temporary provision and directing that elections to the J&K assembly be held. Those assembly elections took place in September–October 2024.
Example
In August 2019, India's Parliament passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, abrogating Article 370 and splitting the state into the Union Territories of J&K and Ladakh.
Frequently asked questions
The article technically remains in the Constitution, but the 2019 Presidential Order and parliamentary resolution rendered its operative clauses inoperative, ending J&K's special status.
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