Two residents of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir have moved the Supreme Court to challenge the directions of the Central Government given in March 2020 for appointing the delimitation commission to redraw Lok Sabha and assembly constituencies of the Union Territory Jammu and Kashmir.
BACKGROUND
Delimitation is the an essential process for election through which boundaries of Lok Sabha and state assembly seats are redrawn in order to represent the actual changes in the population. This process needs to be conducted before the elections are held so that the population can be properly represented in the elections.
CONTENTIONS OF THE PLAINTIFF
The plea has been filed through M/S LAWFIC and it has been drafted by Senior Advocate Ravi Shankar Jandhyala.
Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mattoo have filed a petition seeking a ruling that the Delimitation Commission's constitution is invalid.
Importantly, the plea questions as to when Art. 170 of the Constitution of India provides that the next delimitation in the country will be taken up after 2026, then why UT of Jammu and Kashmir had been singled out. In this regard, the plea further argues that any move to increase the number of seats in Jammu and Kashmir must be preceded by a Constitutional Amendment, besides the amendment of Elections Laws, namely, the Delimitation Act, 2002 and the Representation of People Act, 1950.
NOTIFICATION OF THE GOVERNMENT
the Union Government had issued a notification on March 6, 2020, in the exercise of power under section 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, constituting a Delimitation Commission, with Justice (Retd) Ranjana Prakash Desai as Chairperson, for the purpose of delimitation of Assembly and Parliamentary constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir and the state of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland, for a period of one year.
In another notification issued on March 3, 2021 the term of the Delimitation Commission was extended by one year and omitted the names of the four states, and limited the scope of delimitation exercise to only UT of Jammu and Kashmir.
ULTRA VIRES ACT
The plea also claims that the increase in the number of seats in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir from 107 to 114 (including 24 seats in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir) as provided in the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, is in violation of constitutional provisions such as Articles 81, 82, 170, 330, and 332, as well as statutory provisions such as Section 63 of the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
OMMISSION OF CERTAIN STATES
The petitioners claim that the Central Government's decision to form the Delimitation Commission to take up delimitation in the UT of J&K and the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland violates Art 14 because the Government's order mentions two distinct population ratios.
The plea also claims that the Central Government's order of March 3, 2021, excluding the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, and Nagaland from the delimitation process and deciding to conduct delimitation only for the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir is unconstitutional because it amounts to classification.
DUTY OF ELECTION COMMISSION
The plea also states that it is only the Election Commission that must carry out the process of delimitation (for necessary updation) after the Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Delimitation Order, 2008 is notified.
