RAS question
Article 370, which granted special status to Jammu and Kashmir, was effectively abrogated in:
Correct answer: (B) 2019.
Article 370, which gave Jammu and Kashmir special status, was effectively abrogated in 2019.
Explanation
The answer is 2019 because the Government moved the Resolution for Repeal of Article 370 on 5 August 2019, and the PIB release records that the President issued the Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 to supersede the 1954 order linked to Article 370. The release explains the mechanism under Article 370(3): after Parliament's recommendation, the President could issue a public notification to amend or cease Article 370's operation. It also records the linked Jammu and Kashmir (Reorganisation) Bill, 2019, under which Jammu and Kashmir became a Union Territory with a Legislative Assembly, while Ladakh became a Union Territory without one. The Supreme Court upheld the move in December 2023.
Why the other options are wrong
- (A) 2020 is wrong because the effective repeal process identified in the PIB release occurred on 5 August 2019, not the following year.
- (C) 2018 is wrong because the cited presidential order, repeal resolution, and reorganisation bill were all recorded by PIB in August 2019.
- (D) 2017 is wrong because Article 370 was still the provision being targeted for repeal in the 2019 government resolution described by PIB.
Concept
This tests constitutional change through special provisions, presidential orders and parliamentary recommendation under Article 370. It recurs in RAS because Jammu and Kashmir's status, federal reorganisation and Supreme Court validation sit at the intersection of Polity and current constitutional developments.