(1.) These cases pertain to the constitutional challenge before this Court as regards to two Constitution Orders issued by the President of India in exercise of his powers under Article 370 of the Constitution of India.
(2.) At the outset, learned senior counsel appearing for one of the Petitioners in W.P. (C) No. 1013/19 and Petitioner in W.P. (C) 1368/19 raised the contention that the present matter needs to be referred to a larger Bench as there were contrary opinions by two different Constitution Benches on the interpretation of Article 370 of the Constitution. This order is confined to the limited preliminary issue of whether the matter should be referred to a larger Bench. We have not considered any issue on the merits of the dispute.
(3.) A brief introduction to the issue to set the context for this order is that after the late Maharaja of Kashmir had entered into a treaty of accession with the Indian State, Article 370 was incorporated into the Indian Constitution, which states as follows: