Petition challenging J&K delimitation, dismissed by the Supreme Court
On February 13, 2023, the petition challenging the delimitation of parliamentary and assembly seats in the Union Territory of Jammu & Kashmir was dismissed by the Supreme Court of India. The bench including Justice A.S. Oka and Justice S.K. Kaul stated that the decision on delimitation has no influence on a separate batch of petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 of the Indian Constitution. The top Court held that “We have dismissed the petitions. We have given the rider that the issue of the Reorganisation Act is pending before this Court and we have not said anything on the merits of the same.” The petition was filed by Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mattoo and Haji Abdul Gani Khan, two Srinagar residents, challenging the “increase in the number of seats in the Union Territory from 107 to 114 in the J&K Union Territory to be ultra vires Articles 81, 82, 170, 330 and 332 of Indian Constitution.” The Modi Government said in December that the delimitation of the UT of J&K could not wait until 2026 because the goal was to provide immediate democracy to the region. Further in 2022, the three-member delimitation commission finalized a new electoral map for UT, reserved 47 seats for Muslim- majority Kashmir and 43 seats for Hindu-majority Jammu.
