Busy day for Supreme Court: Aadhaar, Kerala love jihad and Article 35A cases on list

The Supreme Court is set for a busy Monday, with the Aadhaar, Kerala love jihad and Article 35A on Jammu and Kashmir cases set for hearing.

A three-judge bench headed by Chief Justice Dipak Misra will take up petitions seeking repeal of Article 35A that guarantees special privileges to Jammu and Kashmir. The Article disallows people from outside the state from buying or owning immovable property there, settling permanently, or availing of state-sponsored scholarship schemes.

NGO We the Citizens has filed the main petition in the case, which says the state’s autonomous status under Article 35A and Article 370 of the Constitution discriminates against citizens from the rest of the India.

Chief Justice Dipak Misra will also hear Shafin Jahan’s plea against a Kerala High Court order that annulled his marriage with Hadiya, a Hindu woman who converted to Islam. The Chief Justice had earlier questioned the HC order. The apex court had asked the NIA to probe whether there was a design of “love jihad” in the case, as alleged by Hadiya’s father. The NIA has submitted its first report and the SC is set to examine the documents today.

Relating to Aadhaar, a bunch of petitions have been put up in court, the latest being from the West Bengal government against mandatory Aadhaar for availing benefits of various social welfare schemes. It is set to be heard by a bench comprising Justices AK Sikri and Ashok Bhushan.

The Centre is expected to inform the court whether it will extend the deadline for people to provide Aadhaar details to receive benefits till March 31.