Srinagar: As the Opposition political parties have warned of agitation and Hurriyat calling for protests against abrogation of Article 35-A, the government Monday said it is contesting the case in Supreme Court will “full defense”.
Talking to KNS over phone, Minister for Law Abdul Haq Khan said the government is taking all the cases “seriously” and will contest them in any court “with full rigour and defense”.
“We are contesting and defending the Article 35-A will full rigour and defense. We have engaged best constitutional expert in of the country, Fali Nariman, to contest the case in Supreme Court along with our Advocate General,” Khan told KNS.
The Opposition and Hurriyat are protesting against the abrogation of Article 35 A, the abrogation petition of which has been filed by a RSS-backed think tank in Supreme Court.
“Opposition political parties should not create ruckus over the issue. The government is competent enough to contest it seriously and legally,” Khan told KNS.
The minister said that the chief minister is monitoring the case ad he himself in New Delhi to monitor it.
“The government is not lagging behind anywhere,” the minister said in response to the NC President Dr Farooq Abdullah who today said that the state government did not put “high class” representation in the Supreme Court to defend the Article.
The SC heard the petition on July 17 and referred the petition to three-judge bench whose hearing it set after six weeks from July 17.
Advocate General of the state, Jahangir Iqbal Ganaie said the state government has filed a counter affidavit in December last year when the petition was filed against removal of Article 35 A.
“We have prayed before the Supreme Court that the petition is not maintainable because the issue has been settled by the apex court in a case titled Sampat Prakash and others. We also said that Article 35 A has historical background for incorporation of Fundamental Rights into the state constitution. We gave concurrence to the fundamental rights when the article was incorporated,” Ganaie told KNS.
He said the state government is contesting it in whatever best way it could to defend the article. (KNS)
