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ELECTION LAW ASSIGNMENT

Delimitation of Constituencies

(Under the Representation of People Act 1950)

SUBMITTED TO – SUBMITTED BY –

MS. NEHMAT Rima Chaswal

BA. LLB. SEM – 9

ROLL NO. – 116/18

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ACKNOWEDGMENT

I would like to express my special thanks of gratitude to my teacher MS. NEHMAT, who gave
me the golden opportunity to do this wonderful project on the topic DELIMITATION OF
CONSTITUENCIES under The Representation of People Act 1950, which also helped me in
doing a lot of Research and i came to know about so many new things I am really thankful to
them. Secondly, I would also like to thank my parents and friends who helped me a lot in
finalizing this project within the limited time frame.

I am overwhelmed in all humbleness and gratefulness to acknowledge my depth to all those who
have helped me to put these ideas, well above the level of simplicity and into something
concrete. I would like to thank my parents who helped me a lot in gathering different
information, collecting data and guiding me from time to time in making this project, despite of
their busy schedules, they gave me different ideas in making this project unique.
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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr. No. Title Page no.

1. Introduction 4
2. Meaning of delimitation 4-5
3. The Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly 5-10
Constituencies Order under the 1950 Act
4. Delimitation Commission 10
5. Bar to interference by courts in delimitation matters 11-13
6. Delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir 13-15
7. Constitutional Provisions With Regards to 15-17
Delimitation

8. References 18
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INTRODUCTION

 Part XV of the Constitution (Articles 324-329) ) deals with our country’s electoral
system. Article 325 of the constitution guarantees Universal Adult Sufferage and states
that no one shall be ineligible for inclusion in or claim inclusion in a special electoral roll
on basis of religion, caste, race or sex.
 Following the independence, there was a need for general elections to be held in order to
elect a truly representative government based on Universal Adult Sufferage . As a result
The Election Commission of India was established as an independent Constitutional
authorityon 26 November 1949.
 The Constitution also empowers the Parliament to make provisions for election to the
Parliament and State Legislatures. In order to exercise this power the Parliament enacted
laws such as the Representation of People Act 1950, Representation of People Act 1951
and the Delimitation Commission act 1952
 The Representation of People Act 1950 was passed to provide for distribution of seats in
House of People as well as members of legislative assemblies and councils in states. The
act is divided in to 32 sections and 8 parts.

 Meaning of Delimitation
 Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial
constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body. The job of
delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation
Commission or a Boundary Commission. In India, such Delimitation Commissions have
been constituted 4 times – in 1952 under the Delimitation Commission Act, 1952, in
1963 under Delimitation Commission Act, 1962, in 1973 under Delimitation Act, 1972
and in 2002 under Delimitation Act, 2002. The Delimitation Commission in India is a
high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question
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before any court. These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President
of India in this behalf. The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People
and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible
therein by them.
 Under Article 82 of the Constitution, the Parliament by law enacts a Delimitation Act
after every census. From the date of its commencement of the Act, the Central
Government constitutes a Delimitation Commission. According to the Delimitation Act,
Delimitation Commission demarcates the boundaries of the Parliamentary
Constituencies. The present delimitation of constituencies has been done on the basis of
2001 census figures under the provisions of Delimitation Act, 2002. But the Constitution
of India was specifically amended in 2002 that the census of 2001 will continue till 2026
for this purpose. The main object behind the freezing of delimitation of constituencies
was the population control population controlso that the family planning programmes of
states do not affect their political representation in Lok Sabha. Population is the basis of
allocation of seats of the Lok Sabha and every State gets representation in the Lok Sabha
in proportion to its population as per census figures. There are 543 Parliamentary
constituencies in India each electing one member In Lok Sabha there is reservation of
seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. The reservation of seats for Scheduled
Castes and Tribes in the Lok Sabha are made on the basis of proportion of Scheduled
Castes and Tribes in the State concerned to that of the total population as per Article 330
and Section 3 of the Representation of the People Act, 1950. There are 84 seats for
Scheduled Castes and 47 seats for Scheduled Tribes which are reserved for them in Lok
Sabha. The State wise break up of reservation to them contains in 1st schedule to
Representation of People Act, 1950 as amended vide Representation of People
(Amendment) Act, 2008.

 The Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly

Constituencies Order under the 1950 Act
 Section 8 talks about the Consolidation of delimitation orders. It reads that-
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 Section 8(1)- Having regard to all the orders referred to in s.4(5) and s.7(3) relating to
the delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in all States and Union
Territories, except the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Jharkhand, Manipur a and
Nagaland, made by the Delimitation Commission and published in the Official Gazette,
the Election Commission shall:
a) after making such amendments as appear to it to be necessary for bringing up-to-
date the description of the extent of the parliamentary and assembly
constituencies as given in such orders, without, however, altering the extent of
any such constituency
b) after taking into account the provisions of the Delimitation of Parliamentary and
Assembly Constituencies Order, 1976, as made applicable pursuant to the orders
made by the President under section 10A of the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of
2002) relating to delimitation of parliamentary and assembly constituencies in the
States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland, and the provisions
of section 10B of the said Act relating to delimitation of parliamentary and
assembly constituencies in the State of Jharkhand,
 consolidate all such orders into one single order to be known as the Delimitation of
Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008
 Shall send authentic copies of that Order to the Central Government and to the
Government of each State having a Legislative Assembly;
 Thereupon that Order shall superseed all the orders referred to in s.4(5) and s.7(3)
 Shall have the force of law and shall not be called in question in any court.
 Section.8(2) states as soon as the order is received by the Central Government or by the
Government of a State, that Government shall cause it to be laid before the House of the
People or, as the case may be, the Legislative Assembly of the State.
 Section.8 (3) The consolidation under S.8(1) of the orders referred to in S.4(5), s.7(3)

shall not, as provided in sub-section (5) of section 10 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of 2002)

affect the representation in, and the territorial constituencies of, the House of the People or the
Legislative Assembly of the State existing on the date of publication in the Gazette of India of
any such order or orders as may be relevant.
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 Section.8 A. Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly Constituencies in the

States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur or Nagaland.—
 Section.8 A (1) If the President is satisfied that the situation and the conditions prevailing
in the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur or Nagaland are conducive for the
conduct of delimitation exercise, he may, by order, rescind the deferment order issued
under the provisions of section 10A of the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of 2002) in relation
to that State, and provide for the conduct of delimitation exercise in the State by the
Election Commission.
 Section.8 A(2) As soon as may be after the deferment order in respect of a State is
rescinded under section 8 (1), the Election Commission may, by order, determine—
a. the parliamentary constituencies into which such State to which more than one
seat is allotted in the First Schedule shall be divided;
b. the extent of each constituency; and
c. the number of seats, if any, reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled
Tribes.
 Section.8 A (3) As soon as may be after the deferment order in respect of a State is
rescinded under section8 (1), the Election Commission may, by order, determine—
a) the assembly constituencies into which such State shall be divided for the purpose of
elections to the Legislative Assembly of that State;
b) the extent of each constituency; and
c) the number of seats, if any, reserved for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes.
 Section.8 A(4) Subject to the provisions of section 8(1), the Election Commission shall,
 having regard to the provisions of the Constitution and the principles specified in clauses
(c) and (d) of sub-section (1) of section 9 of the Delimitation Act, 2002 (33 of 2002)
 determine the parliamentary and assembly constituencies in the States of Arunachal
Pradesh, Assam, Manipur and Nagaland in which seats shall be reserved, if any, for the
Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
 Section.8 A (5) The Election Commission shall,-
a) publish its proposals under sub-sections (2), (3) and (4) with respect to any State
in the Official Gazette and also in such other manner as it thinks fit;
b) specify a date on or after which the proposals will be further considered by it;
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c) consider all objections and suggestions which may have been received by it
before the date so specified;
d) hold, for the purpose of such consideration, if it thinks fit so to do, one or more
public sittings at such place or places in such State as it thinks fit;
e) after considering all objections and suggestions which may have been received by
it before the date so specified, determine, by order, the delimitation of
parliamentary and assembly constituencies in the State and also the constituency
or constituencies in which seats shall be reserved, if any, for the Scheduled Castes
and the Scheduled Tribes and cause such order to be published in the Official
Gazette; and, upon such publication, the order shall have the force of law and
shall not be called in question in any court and the Delimitation of Parliamentary
and Assembly Constituencies Order, 2008 shall be deemed to have been amended
accordingly.
 Section.8 A (6) Every order made under sub-sections (1) and (2) and clause (e) of sub-
section (5) shall be laid before each House of Parliament.
 Section.8 A (7) Every order made under sub-sections (1) and (3) and clause (e) of sub-
section (5) shall, as soon as may be after it is published under that sub-section, be laid
before the Legislative Assembly of the State concerned.
 Section 9. Power of Election Commission to maintain Delimitation Order up-to-
date.—
 Section 9 (1) The Election Commission may, from time to time, by notification published
in the Gazette of India and in the Official Gazette of the State concerned, —
(a) correct any printing mistake in the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly
Constituencies Order, 2008 or any error arising therein from inadvertent slip or omission;

(aa) make such amendments in the Delimitation of Parliamentary and Assembly

Constituencies Order, 2008 as appear to it to be necessary or expedient for consolidating with
that Order any notification or order relating to delimitation of Parliamentary or assembly
constituencies (including reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled
Tribes in such constituencies) issued under section 8A of this Act or any other Central Act
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(b) where the boundaries or name of any district or any territorial division mentioned in the
Order are or is altered, make such amendments as appear to it to be necessary or expedient
for bringing the Order up-to-date.

 Section 9 (2): Every notification under this section shall be laid, as soon as may be after
it is issued, before the House of the People and the Legislative Assembly of the State
concerned.
 Section 10. Allocation of seats in the Legislative Councils.—
 Section 10(1) The allocation of seats in the Legislative Councils of the States having
such Councils shall be as shown in the Third Schedule.
 Section 10(2) In the Legislative Council of each State specified in the first column of the
Third Schedule, there shall be the number of seats specified in the second column thereof
opposite to that State, and of those seats,—
a) the numbers specified in the third, fourth and fifth columns shall be the
number of seats to be filled by persons elected, respectively, by the
electorates referred to in sub-clauses (a), (b) and (c) of clause (3) of article
171;
b) the number specified in the sixth column shall be the number of seats to be
filled by persons elected by the members of the Legislative Assembly of the
State from amongst persons who are not members of that Assembly; and
c) the number specified in the seventh column shall be the number of seats to be
filled by persons nominated by the Governor of the State in accordance with
the provisions of clause (5) of article 171.
 Section 11. Delimitation of Council Constituencies.—

As soon as may be after the commencement of this Act, the President shall, by order,
determine—

a) the constituencies into which each State having a Legislative Council shall be
divided for the purpose of elections to that Council under each of the sub-clauses (a),
(b) and (c) of clause (3) of article 171;
b) the extent of each constituency; and (c) the number of seats allotted to each
constituency.
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 Section 12. Power to alter or amend orders.—

1) The President may, from time to time, after consulting the Election
Commission, by order, alter or amend any order made by him under section
11.
2) An order under sub-section (1) may contain provisions for the allocation of
any member representing any council constituency immediately before the
making of the order to any constituency delimited a new or altered by the
order and for such other incidental and consequential matters as the President
may deem necessary.
 Section 13. Procedure as to orders delimiting constituencies .— Every order made
under section 11 or section 12 shall be laid before Parliament as soon as may be after it is
made, and shall be subject to such modifications as Parliament may make on a motion
made within twenty days from the date on which the order is so laid.

 DELIMITATION COMMISSION
 The Delimitation Commission has the power to determine its own procedures and is
vested with the powers of a civil court under the Code of Civil Procedure 1908, to
summon and enforce the attendance of witnesses from any part of India, requiring the
production of any document, and requisitioning any public record from any court or
office. On difference of opinion among the members of the Commission, the opinion of
the majority shall prevail and orders of the Commission shall be expressed in terms of the
views of the majority.
 The orders of the Commission were required to be published in the Gazette of India and
in the official gazettes of the states concerned, and upon such publication in the Gazette
of India, every such order had the force of law and could not be called in question in any
court.
 These orders were also to be laid before the House of the People and the legislative
assemblies of the states concerned, but the same could not be, modified by them in any
manner.
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 BAR TO INTERFERENCE BY COURTS IN DELIMITATION

MATTERS

 The Constitution mandates that the delimitation of constituencies as

determined by the authority, to which this task is entrusted, should be final and
there should not be any intervention by any authority, including the courts.
Accordingly, the Constitution makers provided in art 329(a) that:
 Notwithstanding anything in this Constitution:
(a) The validity of any law relating to the delimitation of constituencies or the
allotment of seats to such constituencies, made or purporting to be made
under article 327 or article 328, shall not be called in question in any court.

 There seems to be very sound logic and good reason behind such provision.
It has always been regarded as a matter of first importance that given the
important functions that Parliament and state legislatures have to perform,
the elections thereto should be held regularly, as and when due and according
to the fixed time table.
 The Constitution even stipulates the periods during which each House of
Parliament and of a state legislature must meet to transact its business, and it
implies that these Houses are in existence at all relevant points of time and are
duly constituted on the basis of periodic elections.
 If the orders made by the authority delimiting the constituencies
are not treated as final and are made subject to review or revision by some
other authority, then any voter in any constituency, if he so wished, could
hold up an election indefinitely by questioning the delimitation of
constituencies from court to court.
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 In the Meghraj Kothari case1(Meghraj Kothari v. Delimitation Commission and

Ors), a voter of the Ujjain parliamentary
constituency in the State of Madhya Pradesh, felt aggrieved by the order of
the Delimitation Commission, set up under the Delimitation Commission
Act 1962, which undertook the delimitation of parliamentary and assembly
constituencies in the whole of India on the basis of the 1961 census.
 The Delimitation Commission reserved the Ujjain parliamentary constituency
for the scheduled castes. The said voter claimed to have an unfettered right
to contest election from any parliamentary or assembly constituency in the
State of Madhya Pradesh, but the reservation of Ujjain parliamentary
constituency for the schedule castes deprived him of such right to contest
election from that constituency, as he did not belong to the scheduled
caste.
 He moved the Madhya Pradesh High Court seeking to quash the order of the
Delimitation Commission. The high court did not grant him the relief prayed for,
as the court held that its jurisdiction to go into the question of the order of the
Delimitation Commission was barred by art 329(a). Aggrieved by the high court's
refusal to intervene in the matter, he approached the Supreme Court. But the
Supreme Court also did not interfere with the order of the Delimitation
Commission, holding that art 329(a) barred such interference.
 It was contended on behalf of the petitioner that under art 329(a), the validity of
any law relating to delimitation of constituencies or the allotment of seats to such
constituencies made under arts 327 or 328 could not be called in question, but the
order made by the Delimitation Commission was not law and thus not immune
from challenge. The Supreme Court did not accept this contention.
 The Supreme Court observed that the Delimitation Commission Act 1962
provided in s 10(1) thereof, that each of the orders of the Delimitation
Commission delimiting the constituencies and reserving the seats in those
constituencies for the scheduled castes or scheduled tribes were required to
be published in the Gazette of India and in the official gazettes of the

1
AIR 1976 SC 669
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states concerned, and s 10(2) further provided that 'upon publication in

the Gazette of India, every such order shall have the force of law and shall
not be called in question in any Court'.
 The Supreme Court observed that the provisions of s.10 of the Delimitation
Commission Act 1962, put the orders of the Delimitation Commission and
published in the Gazette of India in the same street as a law made by Parliament
itself'.
 According to the Supreme Court, the Delimitation Commission Act 1962 was
made by Parliament, not under art 82, which merely envisages that upon the
completion of each census the allocation of seats in the House of the People
and the division of each state into territorial constituencies may have to be
readjusted, but under art 327, which empowers Parliament to make laws
with respect to, inter alia, all matters relating to delimitation of constituencies.
 In the case of Mohd Abdul Ghani and ors v. Election Commission of India2 the
appeal of the Election Commission was finally allowed by Supreme Court
upholding the view of the commission that the territorial extent of constituencies
as delimited by Delimitation Commission could not be altered by Election
Commission.

 Delimitation exercise in Jammu and Kashmir

 Recently, a commission set up by the Centre Government submitted its final report for
the delimitation of Assembly and parliamentary constituencies in Jammu and Kashmir.

 Why was the Commission Set Up?

 Delimitation became necessary when the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act,

2019 increased the number of seats in the Assembly.

 The erstwhile J&K state had 111 seats — 46 in Kashmir, 37 in Jammu, and 4 in Ladakh —
plus 24 seats reserved for Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK).
2
(1995) 6 SCC 721
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 In the erstwhile state, delimitation of parliamentary constituencies was governed by the

Constitution of India and that of Assembly seats was carried out by the then state
government under the Jammu and Kashmir Representation of the People Act, 1957.

 After abrogation of J&K’s special status in 2019, the delimitation of both Assembly and
parliamentary seats is governed by the Constitution.

 The Delimitation Commission was set up on 6th March 2020.

 It was headed by retired Supreme Court Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai, it has the Chief

Election Commissioner and J&K’s Chief Electoral Officer as members, and J&K’s five
MPs as associate members.

 What Changes Have Been Made?

 Legislative Assembly: The Commission has increased seven Assembly seats — six in

Jammu (now 43 seats) and one in Kashmir (now 47).

o It has also made massive changes in the structure of the existing Assembly seats.

 Lok Sabha: There are five Parliamentary Constituencies in the region. The Delimitation

Commission has seen the Jammu & Kashmir region as one single Union Territory.

o The Commission has redrawn the boundaries of Anantnag and Jammu seats.

o Jammu’s Pir Panjal region, comprising Poonch and Rajouri districts and formerly part
of Jammu parliamentary seat, has now been added to Anantnag seat in Kashmir.

o Also, a Shia-dominated region of Srinagar parliamentary constituency has been

transferred to Baramulla constituency.

 Kashmiri Pandits: The Commission has recommended provision of at least two members

from the community of Kashmiri Migrants (Kashmiri Hindus) in the Legislative Assembly.

o It has also recommended that Centre should consider giving representation in the J&K
Legislative Assembly to the displaced persons from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who
migrated to Jammu after Partition.

 Scheduled Tribes: Total nine seats reserved for Scheduled Tribes for the first time.
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 Constitutional Provisions With Regards to Delimitation

 Article 81 – Composition of the House of the People

Article 81 of the Constitution, as it existed before the Constitution (Forty-second Amendment)
Act of 1976. The Lok Sabha was supposed to have not more than 550 members. Clause (2) of
Article 81 stipulated that, for the purposes of sub-clause (a) of clause (1), a number of seats in
the House of People are assigned to each State in such a way that the ratio between that number
and the population of the State be, as far as feasible, the same for all States. Furthermore, clause
(3) defines the term “population”, for the purposes of Article 81, to mean the population as
determined at the most recent previous census, the results of which have been published.

As a result of this mandate, states that took the lead in population reduction faced the potential of
losing seats, whilst those with larger population statistics stood to gain by increasing the number
of Lok Sabha seats. To assuage these fears, Section 15 of the Constitution (Forty-second
Amendment) Act of 1976 imposed a freeze on the population figure based on the 1971 Census as
54.81 crores, with a registered electorate of 27.4 crores for the purposes of the proviso to Article
81(3)(i), until the relevant figures for the first census taken after the year 2000 were published.
The deadline was extended from 2000 to 2026 under Section 3 of the Constitution (Eighty-fourth
Amendment) Act 2001.

 Article 82 – readjustment after each census upon the completion of each census

After each census, the Parliament enacts a Delimitation Act under Article 82 of the Constitution.
The Central Government established a Delimitation Commission once the Act came into effect.
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The Indian Constitution was expressly changed in 2002 to postpone constituency delimitation
until the first census after 2026. As a result, the current Constituencies, which were created based
on the 2001 census, will continue to exist until the first census after 2026. The President of India
appoints the Delimitation Commission, which collaborates with the Election Commission of
India. retired Supreme Court Judges, Chief Election Commissioners, and Respective State
Election Commissioners make up the Committee.

 Article 170 – composition of the legislative assemblies

According to Article 170, a state’s Legislative Assembly must have a minimum of 60 members
and a maximum of 500. In addition, if the Governor of the State determines that the community
requires representation, he may select one Anglo-Indian to represent it. Direct election from
territorial constituencies selects the elected members. The size of the population as determined
by the most recent census statistics has been indicated as the foundation for constituency
delimitation and seat distribution. The basic idea of proportionality of representation and one
person, one vote is established in the article. Even though mathematical precision in proportional
representation was not intended or feasible, the provisions added in Article 170 as in Article 82
have effectively made the primary provision and its concept useless. It’s possible that this is
being done only for political reasons and electoral limitations. As a result, it’s impossible to
support it on any other legal or non-legal basis.

The Constitution (Seventh Amendment) Act of 1956 modified this Article. The scale of
representation was omitted because it was thought that there might be States with populations of
less than 4.5 million, in which case the two conditions of a minimum of 60 members and a scale
of representation of not more than one member for every 750,000 people couldn’t be met at the
same time. It was stipulated that the highest number of members would be 500 and the minimum
would be 60 and each state would be divided into territorial constituencies. The population to the
number of states ratio in each constituency would be the same throughout the State and each
constituency will be the same throughout the State. The provision for constituency adjustments
following each decennial census was kept.
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 Article 330 – reservation of seats in the House of People for Scheduled Castes and
Scheduled Tribes

Article 330 of the Constitution of India, read with Section 3 of the R. P. Act, 1950, provides for
the allocation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the Lok Sabha based on the proportion
of Scheduled Castes and Tribes in the State concerned to the total population.

 Article 332 – reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in the
Legislative Assemblies of the States

The Constitution (Fifty-first Amendment) Act, 1984 was passed to allow for reservation of seats
for Scheduled Tribes in the House of People in Nagaland, Meghalaya, Mizoram, and Arunachal
Pradesh, as well as in the Legislative Assemblies of Nagaland and Meghalaya, by modifying
provisions under Article 332. Even though these States are predominantly tribal areas, the
underlying goal of the aforementioned Article was to ensure that the members of the Scheduled
Tribes in these areas were not denied even a minimal level of representation due to their inability
to compete with the more advanced sections of the population.
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 References

 BOOKS
 Abhinav Prakash: Law Realting To Election Law
 Rameshwar Dayal: Election Law
 V S Rama Devi and S K Mendiratta:How India Votes Election Law
Practice And Procedure
 WEBSITES
 https://eci.gov.in
 https://www.drishtiias.com/to-the-points/Paper2/delimitation-1
 https://legislative.gov.in
 https://www.epw.in/journal/2006/09/perspectives/delimitation-
india.html
 https://www.jstor.org/stable/42753697?read-
now=1&refreqid=excelsior
%3A1ed08b1f627744defa11e6bab4799c5e&seq=5#page_scan_tab_c
ontents
 https://lexlife.in/2020/06/20/explained-delimitation-act/
 STATUTES
 The Representation Of People Act 1950
 The Constitution of India1950