Context: The Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking the Delimitation of Assembly Constituencies in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana on grounds of parity with the recent delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir (2022).
Relevance of the topic : Prelims : Article 170(3), Delimitation process and legal provisions
What is Delimitation Exercise?
- Delimitation refers to the process of redrawing the boundaries of constituencies or electoral areas. This ensures that each constituency has a roughly equal number of voters, based on the principle of ‘one vote, one value’.
- The Constitution under Article 82 mandates delimitation after each census to readjust the seats as per changes in population. (Article 82 for Lok Sabha and Article 170 for State Legislative Assemblies).
- After each census, a readjustment is to be made in:
- allocation of seats in the Lok Sabha to the States
- division of each State into territorial constituencies.
- Such an exercise was carried out after the 1951, 1961 and 1971 Census.
- The 42nd Constitution Amendment Act, 1976 put the delimitation exercise on freeze for 25 years until the 2001 Census to encourage population-limiting measures.
- Further, 84th Amendment Act, 2001 put on hold the delimitation exercise again until the first Census after 2026.
The Supreme Court rejected the petition as Article 170 (3) imposes a freeze on delimitation of State Legislative Assembly seats until the first Census after 2026.
What Article 170 (3) says?
Article 170 deals with the composition of Legislative Assemblies.
- Article 170 (1): Subject to the provisions of Article 333, the Legislative Assembly of each State shall consist of not more than 500, and not less than 60 members chosen by direct election from territorial constituencies in the State.
- Article 170 (2):
- Each State must be divided into territorial constituencies in such a way that the population per seat is roughly equal across the State. This division is based on the most recent census for which final figures have been published.
- Until the figures of the first post-2026 census figures are published, the term “last census” will mean the 2001 Census. (84th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2001)
- Article 170 (3): Until the relevant figures for the first Census taken after the year 2026 have been published, it shall not be necessary to readjust:
- Total number of seats in the Legislative Assembly of each State as fixed by the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 1976; and
- Division of each State into territorial constituencies as made by that Order.
Why was Delimitation allowed in Jammu & Kashmir ?
- Jammu & Kashmir became a Union Territory in 2019 after the abrogation of Article 370. As a Union Territory, it is not bound by the freeze under Article 170(3).
- The delimitation exercise in 2022 was based on the 2011 Census, following the Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
The Supreme Court also held that:
- Allowing delimitation for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana through a judicial dictum would foster discontent among other States and breed inequality.
- Granting such a relief would prompt unabated challenges from other similarly situated regions. In particular, the four NorthEastern States- Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur, and Nagaland, which were expressly excluded from the scope of delimitation by way of a Central notification in 2021.