Indian top court favours BJP by rejecting petition challenging IIOJK delimitation
New Delhi, February 13 (KMS): In utter disappointment to the people of Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Indian Supreme Court today dismissed a challenge to the Modi government-appointed Delimitation Commission that has redrawn the constituencies in the occupied territory in a way that favours the BJP.
The top Indian court dismissed petitions that challenged the delimitation commission set up for redrawing the assembly and parliamentary constituencies in IIOJK after it was downgraded into two Union Territories in 2019, when its special status under Article 370 was illegally scrapped.
A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka delivered the verdict on a plea filed by two Kashmir residents.The bench observed that issue of validity of the exercise of power relating to Article 370 is subject matter of petitions pending before the apex court.
The petitioners, Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Muhammad Ayub Matto from Srinagar, said the commission was constitutionally not valid as there is a bar on redrawing or delimitation anywhere in India before 2026. They argued that the constituencies were fixed on the basis of the 1971 Census and that should remain unchanged until the first census after 2026. The plea had sought declaration that the increase in the number of seats from 107 to 114 in IIOJK is ultra vires constitutional provisions and statutory provisions
The panel completed delimitation in occupied Jammu and Kashmir in May last year and revised 90 assembly and five parliamentary constituencies in such a way that positions BJP in an advantage whenever the so-called polls are held in the occupied territory. Prior to this, the Delimitation Commission increased the number of seats in IIOJK from 83 to 90, giving 6 seats to Hindu-dominated Jammu region while only one to Muslim-majority Kashmir Valley despite the fact that the population of Jammu is less than that of the Kashmir division.
