New Delhi: Former Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday complimented Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah on the decision to scrap the Article 370 of the Constitution which he said was “correcting a historic blunder”.
“My compliments to the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji and the Home Minister Shri Amit Shah for correcting a historical blunder,” Jaitley tweeted.
Explaining why Article 35A had to go, Jaitley further tweeted, “A historical wrong has been undone today. Article 35A came through the back door without following the procedure under Article 368 of the Constitution of India. It had to go.”
The former finance minister further tweeted, “Separate status led to separatism. No dynamic nation can allow this situation to continue. What was a temporary and transient provision cannot be treated as permanent. It had to go.”
Jaitley questioned how Articles 370 and 35A be a precedent to merger, saying “J&K integration with India took place in October 1947. Article 370 came into force in 1952, Article 35A came in 1954, four and seven years later respectively. How can Articles 370 and 35A be a condition precedent to merger?”
Jaitley also shared a blog written by him on March 18 this year. The blog explains, “Article 35A was surreptitiously included by a Presidential Notification in the Constitution in 1954. It was neither a part of the original Constitution framed by the Constituent Assembly, nor did it come as a Constitutional Amendment under Article 368 of the requires an approval by two-third majority of both Houses of Parliament.
“It came as a Presidential Notification and is a surreptitious executive insertion in the Constitution,” Jaitley states.