The Supreme Court is scheduled to hear on August 8 a plea seeking the restoration of statehood to Jammu and Kashmir. The matter was mentioned before Chief Justice of India BR Gavai by Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who requested that the case not be deleted from the day's causelist. The Court accepted the request, ensuring the case remains listed for hearing.

The petition follows the constitutional changes of August 2019, when Article 370 was abrogated and Jammu and Kashmir was bifurcated into two Union Territories — Jammu & Kashmir and Ladakh.

The plea was filed by a college professor Zahoor Ahmed Bhat and an activist Khurshid Ahmad Malik, who contended that the continued delay in restoring statehood has seriously impacted the rights of citizens in the region.

It also argues that conducting Assembly elections prior to restoring statehood undermines the principle of federalism, a fundamental feature of the Indian Constitution. The petition was filed during the 2024 Assembly elections, which led to the formation of a government in the Union Territory comprising the National Conference, Congress, and independent members of the Legislative Assembly currently in power in the Union Territory.

While the Supreme Court in December 2023 upheld the abrogation of Article 370, it refrained from ruling on the 2019 law that enabled the bifurcation. During those proceedings, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta assured the Court that Union Territory status was temporary and that full statehood would be restored in due course.