Polls in J-K can be held any time: Centre to SC

The Supreme Court. Pic/PTI

The Centre on Thursday told the Supreme Court that elections can be held in Jammu and Kashmir "anytime from now" with most of the work on the voters' list over, and the decision on specific dates depends on the Election Commission.

Addressing a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta also said Jammu and Kashmir's union territory status is "a temporary thing" and restoration of complete statehood will "take some time".

The five-judge constitution bench, hearing the pleas challenging the abrogation of Article 370, had asked the Centre to set a specific time frame for restoration of electoral democracy in the erstwhile state.

Mehta told the bench, also comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul, Sanjiv Khanna, BR Gavai and Surya Kant, that elections in Jammu and Kashmir will be held in three stages - first panchayat, second municipal polls and third legislative assembly polls.

"The Central government is ready to hold elections anytime from now... It is for the Election Commission of India and Election Commission of State to take the call on which election will take place first and how. The updating process of the voters' list is almost complete and will be completely over in a month," he said.

Discussing the issue of statehood, Mehta said he had already made a statement and that apart was the statement of Home Minister Amit Shah on the floor of Parliament that "UT is a temporary thing in J-K".

"We are dealing with an extremely extraordinary situation," Mehta said.

"The exact time frame for restoration of complete statehood in J-K cannot be given at the moment. It might take some time. Various steps are being taken to restore the status of the state in Jammu and Kashmir."

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