Petition in the Supreme Court against the delimitation of Jammu and Kashmir, the court sought response from the government

The Supreme Court on Friday sought response of the Union government and the Jammu and Kashmir administration on a challenging petition challenging the delimitation motion. A delimitation panel has recommended increasing the assembly seats in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir from 83 to 90. The petition, filed by the local residents, said that the constitution of the Delimitation Commission under the Delimitation Act 2022 is without power and jurisdiction. The next hearing in the matter will be on August 30.

Local residents have filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the recommendation of the Delimitation Commission in Jammu and Kashmir. In which the proposal to increase the number of assembly seats has been said to be violative of Articles 81, 82, 170 and 330 and 332 of the Constitution and Section 63 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act, 2019. The petition states that the constitution of the Delimitation Commission under the Delimitation Act 2022 is without power, jurisdiction and authority.

Let us tell you that last week, the Delimitation Commission panel completed the work of rescheduling the J&K constituencies. Also finalized the electoral map of the Union Territory. Let us tell you that after abolishing the special status under Article 370 in Jammu and Kashmir, for the first time such a big step has been taken. The commission has recommended that the assembly seats be increased from 83 to 90. In this, the assembly seats from the Jammu region have been expanded.

The three-member Delimitation Commission issued its final order, earmarking 43 seats for Hindu-majority Jammu region and 47 for Muslim-majority Kashmir. Of the seven new seats, six are for Jammu and one for Kashmir.

Politically motivated commission’s recommendation: Opposition
However, days after the report came out, the opposition called the proposal “politically motivated”. Alleging that the Delimitation Commission has completely ignored the ground realities and neglected the convenience and aspirations of the people of different walks of life. The statement was issued after leaders of the National Conference, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), the Communist Party of India (Marxist), the CPI and some civil society groups met earlier this week that between 37,000 and 1.90 lakh of the population in different constituencies. The gap between the population has widened. Also the geographical conditions and public convenience at large have been overlooked.