UPSC Mains 2016 GS Paper 2 Q2: model answer
To what extent is Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, bearing marginal note “temporary provision with respect to the State of Jammu and Kashmir”, temporary? Discuss the future prospects of this provision in the context of Indian polity.
What the question wants
Discuss how temporary Article 370 was and its future in Indian polity.
How to structure it
To what extent ... temporary ... future prospects: the original design, the 'permanence' debate, and what happened in 2019–23.
- The provision
- Why called temporary
- Why it became quasi-permanent
- 2019 and the 2023 verdict
- Prospects
How to think it through
The 2016 examiner asked about the future; we now know it. Your answer must tell the history in brief and then give the 2019 abrogation and the 2023 Supreme Court verdict. Keep it constitutional, not emotional.
Model answer
On 11 December 2023, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court unanimously upheld the 2019 order ending Article 370's special status, holding that the provision was always temporary.
The provision
Article 370, in Part XXI titled 'Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions', limited Parliament's power over Jammu and Kashmir to defence, foreign affairs and communications, plus matters agreed by the state government. The state had its own constitution and flag; Article 35A protected 'permanent residents'.
Why it was called temporary
- Interim arrangement pending the state's constituent assembly.
- Article 370(3) allowed the President to end it on the recommendation of the state's constituent assembly.
Why it looked permanent
- The constituent assembly dissolved in 1957 without recommending its end.
- In Sampat Prakash (1968) and SBI v Santosh Gupta (2016), courts treated it as having acquired permanence.
- Yet over 90 Presidential orders gradually applied most of the Constitution to J&K.
2019 and after
- Presidential Order CO 272 and the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019 ended special status and created two Union Territories.
- In In Re Article 370 (2023), the Court held: J&K had no internal sovereignty; Article 370 was temporary; the President could end it; statehood should be restored soon and elections held by September 2024.
Prospects
Elections were held in 2024. The remaining questions are restoration of statehood, protection of land and jobs for locals, and winning trust. Article 370's history shows that asymmetric federalism must be managed through consent and development.
Draw: Timeline 1949–2024 with key orders and judgments.
Keywords, cases and data to drop in
Article 370, Article 35A, Instrument of Accession, Sampat Prakash 1968, CO 272, J&K Reorganisation Act 2019, In Re Article 370 (2023).
Where most answers lose marks
- Writing only the 2016 debate and missing what has happened since.
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Question text as printed in the official UPSC Civil Services (Main) question paper. The model answer is original Battle IAS work; use it to learn structure, not to memorise.
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