evidence: Responding to Supreme Court’s verdict upholding the central government’s 2019 decision to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian Constitution which granted special status to the region of Jammu and Kashmir, Aakar Patel, chair of board at Amnesty International India, said: [...] On 11 December 2023, a Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud unanimously upheld the 2019 decision of the central government to abrogate Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The revocation in 2019 was followed by the deprivation of Jammu & Kashmir’s statehood within India and splitting it into two separate union territories directly governed by the central government. Further, the Court today ordered the restoration of statehood of Jammu and Kashmir as soon as possible and proceeded to order the Election Commission of India to hold elections to the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly by 30 September 2024.