The J&K government has fired its standing counsel Sunil Fernandes in the Supreme Court after he reportedly refused to file a review petition to dispute the court's views on state's sovereignty. In its judgment on December 16, 2016, the apex court bench of Justices Kurian Joseph and Rohinton F Nariman had held: "It is clear that the state of Jammu & Kashmir has no vestige of sovereignty outside the Constitution of India and its own Constitution, which is subordinate to the Constitution of India. they (residents of the state) are governed first by the Constitution of India and also by the Constitution of Jammu & Kashmir." This verdict was used by Islamists to agitate and create law and order situation in the state. Fernandes, it is understood, was asked to file the petition for reconsideration of the specific observations on the state's "sovereignty" but the lawyer reportedly pointed out that no valid legal grounds for filing a review petition was made out. Sources added Fernandes said he would file a review against the judgment only if there are special instructions in writing to do so. Fernandes has been the chief standing counsel for the state since September 2015 during his second stint. On Monday evening, he was instructed to resign "immediately". He was not given any specific reason why he was being sacked. In his first stint, the lawyer served as J&K standing counsel from May 2010 to September 2013.