Delimitation panel empowered to redraw constituencies: Centre to Supreme Court

New Delhi, December 1

The Centre on Thursday defended the delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir before the Supreme Court, saying the Delimitation Commission set up to redraw the Legislative Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies was empowered to do so. The Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019, didn’t preclude the establishment of the Delimitation Commission by the Centre, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta told a Bench led by Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul.

The Bench, which also included Justice Abhay S Oka, reserved its verdict on the petition filed by Srinagar residents Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Mohammad Ayub Mattoo. The petitioners have questioned the increase in the number of seats from 83 to 90, excluding 24 seats in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) in J&K, recommended by the Delimitation Commission which was headed by former Supreme Court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. They contended that it went against Articles 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332 of the Constitution and statutory provisions, particularly Section 63 of the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019.

The number of seats in the Assembly could not have been increased, they insisted.

“The Election Commission cannot abdicate its authority and give it away to the Delimitation Commission,” senior counsel Ravi Shankar Jandhyala had told the Bench on Wednesday.

However, Mehta said the delimitation exercise had become final and it couldn’t be challenged in courts. He rejected the petitioners’ contention that only the Election Commission was empowered to conduct the delimitation exercise under the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019. “By virtue of Sections 60 and 61, while the power to determine delimitation is conferred on the Election Commission, Sections 62(2) and 62(3) confer powers to carry out delimitation on the Delimitation Commission constituted under Section 3 of the Delimitation Act,” Mehta explained.

On behalf of the Election Commission, advocate Amit Sharma also said the delimitation exercise had attained finality after its publication in the gazette notifications on May 5.

Judgment reserved

• The apex court has reserved its verdict on a petition challenging the formation of the Delimitation Commission.
• Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Mohammad Ayub Mattoo have claimed the exercise violates constitutional provisions.