NEW DELHI: India’s top court will hear a plea for the restoration of occupied Kashmir’s statehood later this week, court officials said on Tuesday.

The hearing, scheduled for Aug 8 in the Supreme Court, follows an application filed by two residents of the India-occupied territory.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government revoked occupied Kashmir’s limited autonomy and brought it directly under federal control.

The move was accompanied by mass arrests and a communications blackout that ran for months as India bolstered its armed forces in the region to contain protests.

The removal of Article 370 of the constitution, which enshrined the India-occupied state’s special status, was challenged by political parties, the local bar association and individual litigants.

In Dec 2023, the Supreme Court upheld removing the occupied territory’s autonomy, but added that it be restored to statehood and put on a par with any other Indian state “at the earliest and as soon as possible”. “We have moved an application seeking a definitive timeline for the restoration of statehood,” said the petitioners’ lawyer, Soayib Qureshi.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2025