J&K Assembly to Debate a Resolution on Restoring Statehood: Articles 370, 35A and the Constitutional Route
On 25 September 2026, the Jammu and Kashmir government moved a resolution in the Union Territory's Legislative Assembly. It asks the Government of India for the "immediate and urgent restoration of full statehood" to Jammu and Kashmir, and says the resolution should be sent to the Government of India. The Assembly is set to debate it on 28 September 2026.
The resolution builds on two earlier Assembly resolutions. The first, of 26 June 2000, approved the report of the State Autonomy Committee and sought greater autonomy (a return to the pre-1953 constitutional position); the Union Cabinet rejected it on 4 July 2000. The second, of 6 November 2024, reaffirmed the importance of special status and asked the Centre to start a dialogue with elected representatives.
Several members moved amendments asking the House to also call for restoring Articles 370 and 35A as they stood before 5 August 2019. Other amendments sought the restoration of autonomy, or recorded disapproval of the 2019 changes that ended special status and turned the state into two Union Territories.
The reference to the 2000 autonomy resolution drew strong objections from some members, and the House saw disruption when the resolution was moved.
An Assembly resolution is a formal request, not a law. Legally, statehood can be restored only by Parliament, through a law under Articles 3 and 4 of the Constitution.
Jammu and Kashmir has been a Union Territory with a legislature since 31 October 2019, under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
Article 35A: Permanent Residents of Jammu and Kashmir
Article 35A was a special provision that applied only to the former state of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). It allowed the state legislature to decide who counted as a "permanent resident" of J&K and to give only those people certain rights: government jobs in the state, buying land and property, settling in the state, and state scholarships. Outsiders, including other Indian citizens, could be kept out of these rights. Article 35A stopped applying in August 2019, when the whole Constitution of India was applied to J&K.
Some amendments moved in the J&K Assembly ask for Article 35A to be restored along with Article 370 and statehood. Article 35A cannot come back through an Assembly resolution. It was part of the 1954 Order, which no longer exists, and any similar protection would now need action by Parliament.
Article 370: Special Status of Jammu and Kashmir
Article 370 was a "temporary provision" in Part XXI of the Constitution. It gave Jammu and Kashmir a special position: most parts of the Constitution applied there only through Presidential Orders, usually with the state government's agreement. J&K also had its own constitution. This special status ended in August 2019.
The main resolution before the Assembly asks only for statehood. Some amendments seek to add the restoration of Article 370 as it stood before 5 August 2019. The 2023 Supreme Court judgment upheld the end of special status, so reviving it would need Parliament to act.
Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019
The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 divided the former state of J&K into two Union Territories (UTs). The UT of Jammu and Kashmir has an elected Legislative Assembly. The UT of Ladakh has no legislature. The law came into force on 31 October 2019, and it is the reason J&K is a UT today.
The limits on the elected government under this Act, especially on police and public order, are the main reason behind the demand for full statehood. Restoring statehood would mean Parliament amending or replacing this Act.
Article 3 of the Constitution: Parliament's Power to Reorganise States
Article 3 of the Constitution lets Parliament change the map of India's states by an ordinary law. It can form new states, change their area or boundaries, or change their names. This is also the article that would be used to restore statehood to Jammu and Kashmir.
The Assembly's resolution is a political request with no legal force of its own. Statehood can come back only if the President recommends a Bill and Parliament passes it under Articles 3 and 4.
- Statehood resolution moved in the J&K Assembly: 25 September 2026; debate on 28 September 2026
- Earlier Assembly resolutions: 26 June 2000 (autonomy; Union Cabinet rejected it on 4 July 2000) and 6 November 2024 (special status)
- Amendments sought restoration of Articles 370 and 35A as on the day before 5 August 2019
- J&K a Union Territory since 31 October 2019 (J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019; Act No. 34 of 2019)
- Article 35A: added on 14 May 1954 by Presidential Order; in Appendix I, not among the numbered articles
- C.O. 272 (5 August 2019) and C.O. 273 (6 August 2019) ended special status; upheld on 11 December 2023
- J&K Assembly: 114 seats (90 elected, 24 vacant for areas under Pakistan's occupation)
- Statehood restoration: Parliament law under Articles 3 and 4, on the President's recommendation, by simple majority
- Domicile rule (2020): 15 years' residence, or 7 years' study plus Class 10 or 12 exam