A writ petition has been filed by two residents of Jammu Kashmir before the Supreme Court challenging the March 2020 decision of the Central Government to conduct a delimitation exercise in the region.
The plea was moved by Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mattoo seeking a declaration that the constitution of the Delimitation Commission Commission u/s 3 of the Delimitation Act, 2002, is without power, jurisdictions, and authority, Live Law reported.
The plea states that the action of the Central government in issuing the notifications for the Delimitation of Assembly Constituencies for Jammu Kashmir was without jurisdiction as it usurped the jurisdiction of The Election Commission of India.
“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,” the plea further states.
Significantly, the plea also states that the increase in the number of seats from 107 to 114, as provided in the J&K Reorganisation Act, 2019, is ultra vires the Constitutional Provisions such as Articles 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332 and the Statutory Provisions particularly Section 63 of the Jammu Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.