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As the ancient history of India goes, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) had always been a part of India. Post-independence from the Britishers' rules, the king and ruler of the princely state of J&K, Maharaja Hari Singh, crafted and signed the Instrument of Accession on October 26, 1947. Execution of this document under the provisions of the Indian Independence Act 1947 by Maharaja Hari Singh was the way of acceding to the Dominion of India. Ever since India's neighbouring countries Pakistan and China created numerous issues and confusions about J&K and India Union's control over it etc. 

History of Article 370 and Article 35(A)
Articles 370 & History

Later in 1954, Dr Rajendra Prasad, the then President of India, made an Order exercising his powers conferred to him by clause (1) of Article 370 of the Constitution of India and made the state parts of India. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution also gave a special status to the State of J&K since then till October 2019. India had been managing the state while complying to Article 370 and Article 35(A) of the Constitution.

Article 370 personified six special provisions for J&K. It ¬is a part of Part XXI of the Constitution of India, which were meant to be Temporary, Transitional and Special Provisions as it was crafted. It allows the state constituent Assembly of J&K to make its Constitution, thereby, giving the state a power to be an "autonomous state". It also enforces the need for "concurrence of the state government" if the central government of India plans to make amendments to the concurrent list of subjects. This is a critical aspect of Article 370.

Article 370 provided that the State of J&K is beyond the provisions of article 238 and that they shall not apply to J&K. It limited the power of Parliament to make laws for the J&K to certain aspects. It also provided that the President may cease Article 370 from being operative or keep it operative only with certain exceptions and modifications by public notification. However, it stated that the recommendation of the Constituent Assembly of the State shall be necessary for such notification.

Article 35(A) & History

Discussions to further the relationship continued between the state and the Union, following the accession of J&K to the Indian Union and the Article 370 of the Constitution of India, and the concomitant Constitutional Order of 1950 formalising this relationship. It culminated in the 1952 Delhi Agreement and became the base for Article 35(A) of the Constitution of India, whereby both the governments agreed that Indian citizenship would be extended to residents of J&K; however, J&K would be vested to legislate over the rights and privileges of its state subjects, who would now be called permanent residents.

Article 35A of the Indian Constitution empowered the state legislature of J&K to define its "permanent residents" and provide them with special rights and privileges. These privileges include the ability to purchase land and immovable property, seeking state employment and availing other benefits such as education, medical care etc. along with the ability to vote and contest elections. Non-permanent residents were not entitled to these 'privileges' even for Indian citizens.

Effect of Article 370 and Article 35(A)

There is a popular notion that both the articles, Article 35A and Article 370, deliberate a special-state status to the State of Jammu & Kashmir. Article 370 is not so unique in the Constitution of India as there seem to exist similar arrangements with several other areas of the country. However, Article 35(A) has far-reaching implications within India. Until Article 35A was put in effect, the Governor and the Chief Minister of J&K were known as "Sadr-e-Riyasat" (President) and "Wazir-e-Azam" (Prime Minister). They would roll back to the same arrangement if Article 35(A) ceased to be operative.

Current State of Article 370 and Article 35(A) 

India had scrapped arrangements and made inoperative both, Article 35(A) and most of Article 370 of the Constitution of India, for the State of Jammu and Kashmir. The Indian government of Bharatiya Janata Party, chosen by an absolute majority in Lok Sabha elections, moved a bill in the start of August 2019 and disavowed this exceptional status through a Presidential Order in Parliament.

Article 370 enforces the need for "concurrence of the state government" to any amendments by the central government of India. Since the Constituent Assembly of J&K had broken up itself without prescribing the repeal of Article 370 during those days, the article had remained merely as a perpetual component of the Indian Constitution. Article 35(A) would become largely meaningless in such a situation. This situation could have been managed only by a presidential order by public notification.

On August 5 2019, the President of India Ram Nath Kovind issued a Presidential Order, whereby all the provisions of the Indian Constitution are to apply to the state without any special provisions. It would imply that the state's separate Constitution stands inoperative, including the privileges sanctioned by the Article 35A. The presidential order came in force on October 31, 2019, and divided J&K into three Union Territories, namely Jammu, Kashmir and Laddakh.