Scrapping of Art 370: No separate Constitution, flag for J-K, assembly to be of 5 yrs

With the abrogation of Article 370, Jammu and Kashmir will now have no separate flag or Constitution and the tenure of the assembly will be for a period of five years like any other state and two union territories in the country, officials said on Monday.

The Indian Penal Code (IPC) will replace the Ranbir Penal Code (RPC) to deal with criminal matters and Article 356, under which President's rule can be imposed in any state, will also be applicable in union territories (UTs) Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh with the unprecedented decision of the Centre.

There will be no separate flag of Jammu and Kashmir and the tricolour will be the only national flag for the entire country, a Home Ministry official said.

There will be no separate Constitution for Jammu and Kashmir and the Indian Constitution will govern the two union territories to be created.

The Jammu and Kashmir Assembly will have a tenure of five years like all the states and UTs of Delhi and Puducherry. Till now, the Jammu and Kashmir Legislative Assembly had a tenure of six years.

So far, incase of failure of functioning of the state government, Governor's rule was imposed by invoking Section 92 of the Constitution of Jammu and Kashmir for a period of six months and was further extendable by imposing President's rule, another official said.

With the revocation of Article 370, Article 356 can be invoked and President's rule can be imposed right way incase of need.

The government can also invoke Article 360 in the two UTs to declare financial emergency if need arises.

Henceforth, people from other states will be eligible to purchase land and properties and the Right to Information (RTI) Act will be applicable to the new UTs to be created, the official said.

The government on Monday revoked Article 370 that gave special status to Jammu and Kashmir and proposed that the state be bifurcated into two union territories, Jammu and Kashmir, and Ladakh.