The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the abrogation of Article 370, a Central government decision of August 2019, which stripped Jammu and Kashmir of its special status.
The five-judge Constitution Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Justice Sanjiv Khanna, Justice BR Gavai and Justice Surya Kant gave three judgments in the matter – one by CJI Chandrachud for himself and for Justices Gavai and Surya Kant.
The second was a concurring opinion authored by Justice SK Kaul, while Justice Sanjiv Khanna delivered the third verdict, concurring with both the judgements.
In his verdict, Justice Kaul recommended the setting up of an impartial Truth and Reconciliation Commission (on the lines of the one in South Africa after the end of Apartheid) to investigate and report on the violation of human rights both by State and non-state actors at least since 1980s and recommend measures for reconciliation.
Justice Kaul noted that the exercise of the Commission shall be carried out in a time-bound manner. He stated the Commission must be set up “before memory escapes”. He added there was an entire generation of youth that had grown up with a feeling of distrust and it was to them that liberation was owed.
Considering the sensitivities of the matter, he said it was for the government to decide the manner in which the Truth and Reconciliation Commission must be set up.
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission could facilitate a reparative approach, that enables forgiveness for the wounds of the past and forms the basis of achieving a shared national identity, Justice Kaul said.