C.O. 272 and C.O. 273: The Constitutional Route

Before Parliament passed the Reorganisation Act, the President used two orders to end the special status. These came first in the logic of the whole exercise.

Step 1: Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 (C.O. 272)

• Issued by the President on 5 August 2019, with the concurrence of the Governor (J&K was under President's Rule).
• It replaced the 1954 Order (C.O. 48) and applied all provisions of the Constitution of India to J&K.
• It also amended Article 367 (the interpretation article) by adding a new clause (4) to say that, for Article 370 and the Constitution as applied to J&K:
  • references to the Government of the State meant the Governor acting on the aid and advice of the Council of Ministers, and
  • in the proviso to Article 370(3), "Constituent Assembly of the State" would be read as "Legislative Assembly of the State".
• Article 35A ceased to operate, because it had come in through the 1954 Order, which C.O. 272 replaced.

Step 2: Parliament's statutory resolution

• On 5 August 2019, Home Minister Amit Shah moved a statutory resolution in the Rajya Sabha, recommending that the President declare Article 370 inoperative. The Rajya Sabha adopted it the same day.
• The Lok Sabha adopted it on 6 August 2019: 351 for, 72 against, 1 abstention.
• With the Assembly dissolved, Parliament stood in for the State Legislature. The "Legislative Assembly" in the new Article 367 reading was in effect Parliament.

Step 3: Declaration under Article 370(3) (C.O. 273)

• Issued by the President on 6 August 2019.
• It declared that, from 6 August 2019, all clauses of Article 370 ceased to be operative except clause 1.
• Clause 1 was kept, but modified so that all provisions of the Constitution apply to J&K without exceptions or modifications.

Step 4: The Reorganisation Act

The Act (passed 5 and 6 August, assented 9 August, in force 31 October 2019) created the two Union Territories. See the next topic.

Order of events at a glance