'We are disappointed... but have to accept it': Ghulam Nabi Azad on Supreme Court's verdict on Article 370

Democratic Progressive Azad Party (DPAP) president Ghulam Nabi Azad on Monday said that Supreme Court's verdict upholding the abrogation of Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir constitutionally valid is "sad and unfortunate" and that he is pretty certain that people of the region too shared the same sentiment.Addressing the reporters on Monday, he said, "...Supreme Court was our last hope... We are disappointed by the Supreme Court verdict.... But we have to accept it (the verdict)."He said that with this decision, the economy of J&K will suffer and price of the land will go up.He said the locals will also have to suffer on the job front as now everyone from across the country will be able to apply for the jobs here, which are naturally limited.The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Centre's decision to abrogate Article 370, which bestowed a special status on the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir, and said steps should be taken to conduct elections to the Assembly by September 30 next year.The apex court also directed that statehood to the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir be restored at the earliest.The apex court reserved its verdict in the matter on 5 September after a 16-day hearing.During the hearing, the top court heard Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocates Harish Salve, Rakesh Dwivedi, V Giri and others on behalf of the Centre and the intervenors defending the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370.Senior advocates, including Kapil Sibal, Gopal Subramanium, Rajeev Dhavan, Zaffar Shah and Dushyant Dave, had argued on behalf of the petitioners.The lawyers had dwelt on various issues, including the constitutional validity of the Centre’s decision to abrogate the provisions of Article 370, the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, which split the erstwhile state into two Union territories, challenges to the imposition of the governor’s rule in Jammu and Kashmir on June 20, 2018 and the imposition of the president’s rule on December 19, 2018 and its extension on July 3, 2019.The petitions challenging the abrogation of the provisions of Article 370 and the validity of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019 that divided the erstwhile state into the Union territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh were referred to the Constitution bench in 2019.The arguments in the matter had commenced on 2 August.With inputs from agencies