Jammu & Kashmir politicians rue dismissal of delimitation plea by Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Monday dismissed a plea challenging the governments decision to constitute the delimitation commission for redrawing the legislative assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and KashmirWhile pronouncing the verdict Justice A S Oka said nothing in this judgement shall be construed as giving an imprimatur to the exercise of power under clauses one and three of Article 370 of the ConstitutionThe bench observed that issue of validity of the exercise of power relating to Article 370 is subject matter of petitions pending before the apex courtThe top court is seized of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Centres decision to abrogate provisions of Article 370 on August 5 2019Also readMaha bypolls Time to teach traitors a lesson says Ajit Pawar in swipe at Shinde rebellionSeeking dismissal of the plea Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appearing for the Centre had argued that the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019 does not preclude the establishment of Delimitation Commission by the Central governmentThe counsel appearing for the two petitioners Haji Abdul Gani Khan and Mohammad Ayub Mattoo had argued that the delimitation exercise was carried out in contravention of the scheme of the Constitution and alteration of boundaries and inclusion of extended areas should not have been doneThe plea had sought declaration that the increase in the number of seats from 107 to 114 including 24 seats in Pakistan occupied Kashmir in Jammu and Kashmir is ultra vires constitutional provisions and statutory provisions particularly under section 63 of the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act 2019It had sought to declare as unconstitutional the notification dated March 6 2020 constituting the delimitation commission to take up delimitation in the UT of Jammu and Kashmir and states of Assam Arunachal Pradesh Manipur and Nagaland by the CentreCommunist Party of India leader Yousuf Tarigami while reacting to the supreme court decision said dismissal of the petition has added to the long list of disappointments for the people of the Union TerritoryCarrying out the delimitation process under the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act is unacceptable he saidIt is just delimitation in the name of delimitation They have virtually disrupted the unity of people of Jammu and Kashmirrdquo he saidFormer Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Mehbooba Mufti said the Supreme Court dismissing the petition challenging the delimitation process in Jammu and Kashmir was immaterial when legal challenges to abrogation of Article 370 and Jammu and Kashmir Reorganisation Act were pending before the apex courtldquoWe have rejected the delimitation commission from the outset It does not matter to us what the verdict isrdquo Mehbooba told reporters here 41 km from SrinagarThe former chief minister questioned the SC delivering the verdict on the delimitation petition when other pleas were still pending considerationldquoThe challenge to the Reorganisation Act under which the delimitation process was carried out is pending challenge to abrogation of Article 370 is pending before the SC If all that is pending how can they the SC give verdict on this petitionrdquo she askedMehbooba charged that delimitation was a ldquotactical process of rigging before the elections Thats what they have done converting the majority into a minority in favour of the BJP We have not even participated in the discussions of the delimitation commissionrdquoJammu and Kashmir National Conference said it is not ldquoheartbrokenrdquo over the Supreme Court dismissing a petition challenging the delimitation process but was sure of a victory in the petitions challenging the abrogation of Article 370 by the CentreldquoWe are not heartbroken with this We are sure whenever the Supreme Court hears our petition on abrogation of Article 370 we have enough ammunition in our arsenal that will tilt the case in our favour because we are not asking for anything outside the Constitution of Indiardquo National Conference spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar told PTIHe said the stand taken by the party on Article 370 was ldquopart and parcel of the Constitution of India So there is nothing we are seeking that is not within the purview of the ConstitutionrdquoReacting to the top courts verdict Awami National Conference ANC vice president Muzaffar Shah said there was ldquonothing new as we expected itrdquo ldquoI can only say unfortunately this delimitation matter was not agitated by major political parties hererdquo Shah saidHe said he is hopeful that the petitions about Articles 370 and 35A ldquowill be a different ball gamerdquoThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever