Jaitley highlights 'vulnerability' of Article 35A in J&K

An Indian legal restriction that bars non-residents from owning property in the northern state of Jammu and Kashmir is "constitutionally vulnerable", Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said on Thursday.

Article 35A, which was incorporated in the Constitution by a 1954 Presidential Order, accords special rights and privileges to permanent residents of J and K and bars people from outside the state from acquiring any immovable property in the state. It also denies property rights to a woman who marries a person from outside the state. The provision, which leads to such women from the state forfeiting their right over property, also applies to her heirs.

Political leaders in Muslim-majority Kashmir, where Indian forces are battling an armed insurgency, have warned that any attempts to revise the constitutional provision, known as Article 35A, would trigger unrest.