Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta on Thursday told the Supreme Court the abrogation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status under Article 370 had conferred more rights on people as laws, including equal property rights for women, would now be applicable to the newly designated Union Territory.

“Rights are not being snatched away, as is being alleged, but more rights are being conferred on the people… after many years,” Mehta, appearing for the Jammu and Kashmir government, told Justices N.V.

Ramana, R. Subhash Reddy and Bhushan Gavai at a hearing.

Laws such as the Domestic Violence Act, Equal Property Rights for Women, Right To Education Act, Child Marriages Act and the Juvenile Justice Act — not applicable to the then state before key provisions of the article were scrapped — would now be available to the people, Mehta told the court.

Earlier, Kashmiri women who married outside the state would lose their claim to property. That would change, he said.

He said tribal people who made up 12 per cent of Jammu and Kashmir’s population would, unlike earlier, be entitled to all reservation benefits.