SRINAGAR: In a strongly worded appeal to Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, five eminent public figures including a former Home Secretary, retired military officers, and a former government interlocutor have urged the Supreme Court to take suo motto action over the prolonged delay in restoring Jammu and Kashmir’s statehood.
The signatories Gopal Pillai, Maj. Gen. Ashok K. Mehta (retd), Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak (retd), Amitabha Pande, and Radha Kumar argued in their letter that the continued Union Territory status contradicts the Constitution’s federal spirit and the apex court’s own 2023 ruling, which expected timely restoration of democratic governance in the region.
Referring to recent violent incidents, including the Pahalgam terror attack in April 2025, the petitioners cautioned that national security must not be misused as a pretext for continued central control. They insisted that restoring an elected government, particularly after a peaceful, high-turnout Assembly election in October 2024 where the National Conference secured a decisive mandate, is not only appropriate but urgently necessary.
The letter also raised concerns about the current administrative setup under Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha. It cited arbitrary crackdowns and the sidelining of the elected government from essential matters like public safety and civil services. The Chief Minister, they wrote, is denied access to security briefings, while key decisions are taken without consultation despite a Supreme Court precedent affirming the rights of elected governments in the Delhi case.
Moreover, the absence of a functional human rights body in Jammu and Kashmir and the lack of police accountability to public representatives have left citizens with no channels for grievance redressal, the letter warned.
The authors urged the Supreme Court to acknowledge the deteriorating civil-political environment in the region and constitute a dedicated bench to examine the constitutional validity of the statehood revocation. They also requested the court to set a fixed timeframe for restoring full statehood, arguing it is the only way to safeguard democratic rights and regional stability.
