BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court has upheld the delimitation notification issued by the State Election Commission to hold elections to the Raichur and Chikkaballapura zilla panchayats and Chikkanayakanahalli taluk panchayat in Tumakuru district, based on the 2011 census.Justice M Nagaprasanna dismissed the petitions filed by Lingappa Goudoru and three others from Raichur district, M V Balaraj from Chikkaballapura and H M Vishwanatha from Chikkanayakanahalli due to lack of merit.
The petitioners contended that the delimitation by the Election Commission was without jurisdiction as it is mandated under the statute that it should be on the basis of census. There was no census in 2020-21 and the EC had already undertaken the exercise of delimitation in 2015 on the basis of the preceding census. Hence, they contended, the EC’s move without a fresh census was without jurisdiction.
The Election Commission’s counsel argued that the writ petitions calling in question the process of delimitation was not maintainable in terms of the bar under Article 243-O of the Constitution. On hearing both the parties, the court said that there was no violation to the provisions of law as contended by the senior counsel for the petitioners.