Delimitation Bar on Southern State

Context

The Supreme Court dismissed a petition seeking delimitation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, citing constitutional constraints under Article 170.

Delimitation in India – Legal Basis:

Delimitation refers to the redrawing of boundaries of electoral constituencies to reflect population changes.
Article 82 of the Constitution provides for the delimitation of Lok Sabha constituencies post each census, while Article 170 governs the delimitation of State Legislative Assemblies.
A constitutional freeze on delimitation was imposed by the 84th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2001, and extended by the 87th Amendment till the first census after 2026.

Supreme Court’s Verdict (2024):

The Court ruled that Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are barred from delimitation before the post-2026 census due to the express provision of Article 170(3).
Union Territories, such as Jammu & Kashmir, are not subject to the same constitutional bar, hence the 2022 delimitation in J&K using 2011 Census data was legally valid.
The Court emphasised that treating States and Union Territories as equals in this context would violate the principle of constitutional distinction.

Wider Constitutional and Political Implications:

Judicial direction to initiate early delimitation in States would destabilise the uniform electoral framework across India.
It would also invite legal challenges from other States excluded from delimitation, such as Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, and Manipur, as per the 2021 notification under the Delimitation Act, 2002.
The judgment reaffirmed that delimitation is a political and constitutional process, not subject to judicial prescription unless constitutional mandates are violated.