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Article 370 cannot be removed, says Jethmalani

Union Law Minister Ram Jethmalani today said Article 370 of the Constitution, which confers special status on Jammu and Kashmir, could only be amended or removed through a "constitutional coup".

In an informal chat with newsmen, he said it was stated in the Constitution that Article 370 could neither be amended nor be removed without the approval of the Constituent Assembly. Since the Constituent Assembly ceased to exist after the adoption of the Constitution, it was not possible to alter or remove the Article now, he added.

Asked whether his comments were on record, he said you could write that "this is the opinion of Ram Jethmalani".

Only a government that adopts an entirely different Constitution and ask judges to follow it at the point of a gun could remove or amend the Article 370, he said. Jethmalani said the demand for abrogation of Article 370 was made when the BJP was in the opposition and in his opinion it was a mistake.

Referring to other contentious issue like Uniform Civil Code, he asked how is it possible. Would a Hindu accept nikah or a Muslim accept saptapadi? "What is required is uniform justice", he added.

To a question on whether the BJP had mellowed after coming to power, he said coalitions were best for the country. The worst thing that happened to the country was when Rajiv Gandhi got over 400 seats in Parliament. He, however, refused to answer whether he felt the BJP should not get a majority on its own.

UNI

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