The Home Ministry and the Election Commission of India (ECI) have found themselves on the same page in the Supreme Court, both agreeing that delimitation orders notified in the official gazette, redrawing Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370, have acquired the “force of law”.
The government and the top poll body were responding to a petition filed by Srinagar residents, Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Dr. Mohammad Ayub Mattoo, challenging the constitution of the Delimitation Commission on March 6, 2020.
The petition had also sought a judicial declaration that the increase in the number of Assembly seats from 107 to 114 (including 24 seats in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir) in Jammu and Kashmir was unconstitutional and ultra vires the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act, 2019.
