India Supreme Court upholds repeal of special status of Jammu and Kashmir

India's top court has upheld the stripping of special status from the former state of Jammu and Kashmir, Report informs, citing the BBC.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government in 2019 revoked the Indian constitution's Article 370, which had given the region significant autonomy.

The state of more than 12 million people was also split into two federally administered territories.

The court added that the government should hold elections in the region by September 2024.

The five-judge bench also ordered that the region should be restored as a state "at the earliest."

"The state of Jammu and Kashmir does not have internal sovereignty different from other states," Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said while reading out the judgment.

In his concurring judgment, Justice SK Kaul recommended that an "impartial truth and reconciliation commission" be set up in Kashmir to investigate human rights violations by both "state and non-state actors" over the past few decades.

The revocation was one of Mr Modi's poll promises in 2019 and the court's decision comes months before he seeks a third term. Local politicians in the region have expressed disappointment over the order.