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The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking a delimitation exercise in the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana to increase the number of seats in their State Assemblies.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi found no merit in the petition filed by Purushottam Reddy, who had argued that conducting delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir while excluding Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was arbitrary and unconstitutional. In its verdict pronounced today, the Court referred to Article 170 of the Constitution, which lays down the rules for the composition of State Legislative Assemblies and clarified that there is no requirement to readjust the number of seats until the first census figures after 2026 are published. The bench further stated that the principle of "legitimate expectation" under Administrative Law cannot override a clear constitutional provision. The Court clarified that Jammu and Kashmir, being a Union Territory, falls under Article 239A, which allows Parliament to make special laws for Union Territories. Because of this, the delimitation carried out in Jammu and Kashmir cannot be used as a reason to seek the same for states like Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, which are governed by Article 170. As regards the contention that the aforesaid States be treated at par with the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in the context of delimitation, the bench ruled that allowing such a request could lead to similar demands from other states, including those in the North-East that were previously excluded from the 2020 delimitation process. "It would open floodgates to similar demands from other states", the bench sated in its judgement. Granting such relief, the Court said, would go against the constitutional timeline and could disrupt the uniformity of the electoral system across the country. (ANI)
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