A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court will commence from October 1 onwards the hearing on a number of petitions challenging abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir. The constitution bench will be headed by Justice N V Ramana and comprise of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, R Subhash Reddy, B R Gavai and Surya Kant. A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi is already hearing a batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions under Article 370 which conferred special status to Jammu and Kashmir. The matter is slated for hearing on September 30. Last month, the central government had abrogated the Articles 370 and 35A of the Constitution of India and the Parliament had passed the Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganization) Act, 2019, bifurcating the state into two Union Territories — Jammu and Kashmir with legislature and Ladakh without one. Following this, a batch of petitions was filed in the top court challenging the move.
