Keywords: Sc ST representation, delimitation, commission
The Central government was instructed by the Supreme Court on Thursday to form a new Delimitation Commission in order to guarantee the equitable representation of the communities classified as Scheduled Tribes (ST) and Scheduled Castes (SC).A bench consisting of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra observed that in order to create a seat in the West Bengal Legislative Assembly, authority under the Delimitation Act would need to be used.
Regarding the state of West Bengal, the ECI has submitted that, prima facie, it would seem that, in order to comply with the concept of proportional representation, an extra seat in the state parliament must be made available for the scheduled tribes. According to the Court, the aforementioned situation makes it imperatively necessary for the Center to use its authority under the Delimitation Act of 2002 to guarantee that the terms of Articles 332 and 333 are correctly carried out.
The Court added that it has requested the establishment of a Delimitation Commission from the Central government. We explicitly stated at the conclusion of the ruling that they must form the delimitation commission. It was deliberating over a public interest litigation (PIL) request for proportionate representation of Scheduled Tribes in the legislative legislatures of West Bengal and Sikkim, the Court stated On Wednesday, the Supreme Court ruled that in order to guarantee the equitable representation of the communities classified as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the Central government must take into consideration reconstituting the Delimitation Commission.
The Court stated that there Is no doubt about the constitutional basis of the Limboo and Tamang communities’ claims for proportional representation, which have been recognized as STs. The Court noted that in 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs began the process of increasing the number of seats in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly from 32 to 40 in order to provide reservations for the two tribes. However, no action has been taken since then.
The Court pointed out that Article 327 gives Parliament the authority to establish election-related laws, such as those pertaining to constituency boundaries. Regarding Article 325, the Court held that the Election Commission (EC) has extensive authority over the management and oversight of elections.
References:
https://www.deccanherald.com/india/sc-asks-centre-set-up-fresh-delimitation-commission-2783027
Anushka Shukla, Faculty of Law, University of Lucknow, Intern at Legal Vidhiya
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