The Supreme Court on Friday sought a report from the Centre and the Jammu and Kashmir administration over a plea challenging the the delimitation exercise in the Union Territory, reported The Indian Express.
The plea filed by the residents of Jammu and Kashmir also sought a declaration that the constitution of the Delimitation Commission under the Delimitation Act 2022 is without power, jurisdiction and authority.
A bench comprising Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M M Sundresh noted that the challenge in the present petition does not extend to assailing the abrogation of Articles 370 and 35A, though some allegations have been raised in the petition in this regard, reported Live Law.
On Thursday, the Centre-appointed delimitation commission recommended seven additional constituencies — six for Jammu and one for Kashmir — taking the total number of seats in the UT to 90 from 83 earlier.
The panel’s report also called for the reorganisation of the Parliamentary constituencies such that the five Lok Sabha seats now are made up of exactly 18 Assembly constituencies each, taking the total number to 90.
The panel also recommended reservation of nine Assembly seats for Scheduled Tribes – six in Jammu and three in Kashmir, and removal of the regional distinction between Jammu and Kashmir and treating it as one, as is reflected in the combining of Anantnag region in Kashmir with Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu to carve out Anantnag-Rajouri as a Parliamentary constituency.