Ready for elections in J&K any time now; restoration of complete statehood to take some…

NEW DELHI: The central government on Thursday told the Supreme Court that it is prepared for elections in Jammu and Kashmir at any time now. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta informed to the top court that the process of updating the voters’ list is currently underway and substantial work is completed.
The call for elections in J&K will be under the jurisdiction of both the state Election Commission and the Union Election Commission.
Notably, the elections for the District Development Council have already taken place.
Additionally, the upcoming Panchayat elections are scheduled to take place shortly, as informed by the Solicitor General to a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud.
The elections for Leh Hill Development Council have concluded, while the elections for Kargil are set to be held in September, he said.
The Centre, however, said though steps to revert J&K into a state has already been implemented gradually, it cannot provide an exact time frame for restoration of statehood to the Union Territory.
Regarding the suspension of ZA Bhat shortly after he personally argued against the Centre’s decision of August 5, 2019, in the Supreme Court, the SG told the SC that “some advice” has been given to the J&K administration and that he would seek instructions on the latest development on the issue.