NEW DELHI: Clearing the decks for elections in Jammu and Kashmir, the Supreme Court on Monday found nothing illegal in the Delimitation Commission redrawing poll constituencies and increasing the Assembly seats from 107 to 114, including 24 seats in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir.
A bench of Justices S K Kaul and A S Oka declared the notifications issued in 2020 by the Union Ministry of Law and Justice for constituting the Delimitation Commission for J&K valid. Justice Oka, who authored the 54-page ruling, clarified that the judgment will have no bearing on the issue of validity of the Delimitation Act and the Article 370 petitions pending before another bench of the Supreme Court.
The bench said its findings are on the footing that the exercise of power made in 2019 under clauses (1) and (3) of Article 370 of the Constitution is valid. Appearing for Srinagar residents Haji Abdul Ghani Khan and Mohammad Ayub Mattoo, senior advocate Ravi Shankar Jandhyala had argued that the constitution of the commission was without power, jurisdiction and authority.