Article 370 of the Constitution of India allows the State of Jammu and KAshmir to have its own

constitution, and limits the power of Indian parliament to make laws for the state. Art 370(1)(b)
contains that parliament is empowered to make laws for Jammu and Kashmir over only those matters
which are specified by the President in consultation with the govt of J&K. Art 370(1)(d) empowers the
President - in consultation with the Government of the State - to make constitutional provisions
applicable to the state through Presidential Orders.

Article 35A: Under the provisions of Art 370(1)(d) a Presidential order was passed in 1954 - officially
called ‘The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 1954’ - extending Indian
citizenship and Fundamental Rights to all ‘permanent residents’ of the State, as well as bringing them
under the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court of India and extending the Central Government’s power
to declare National Emergency over the State.

Further, Article 35A was added to the Constitution under the same order, empowering the state
legislature to provide for privileges of permanent residents with regard to immovable property,
settlement in the state and employment. This empowered the State to make laws preventing people
who were not permanent residents of Kashmir to buy property or get government jobs in the State.

Effect of the current order: The Constitution (Application to Jammu and Kashmir) Order, 2019 comes
into force on 5th August 2019 and supersedes the 1954 order which had enacted Article 35A. Clause
(2) of the order contains that all provisions of the Constitution of India, along with its amendments,
shall apply to the State of Jammu and Kashmir.
The current order effectively nullifies the provisions under Article 370 as well as the special provisions
granted to the States residents under Article 35A of the constitution.

Special Provisions and the Indian Constitution: Kashmir is not the only state to have special
provisions with regards to laws enacted by the Indian Parliament, nor is KAshmir the only state that
has special privileges for its permanent residents with regards to buying of property or employment in
government jobs. Article 371 contains similar special provisions for Nagaland, Manipur and parts of
Assam. Further, states like Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, among others, provide special
privileges to their permanent residents that prevent Indian citizens from outside the state from
acquiring property in those states. These special provisions have been made for different states
keeping in mind the need to protect customary laws as well as regional language and local customs.