Srinagar (J&K): Former Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister and People's Democratic Party President Mehbooba Mufti on Monday said her party “does not care” about the Supreme Court dismissing a plea challenging the delimitation of voter constituencies in the Union Territory as the party has rejected it from the very beginning. Mehbooba was speaking to the media during her whirlwind tour of south Kashmir's Anantnag district.
“We have rejected the Delimitation Commission and its recommendations from the very beginning. Therefore, we don't care what the court has decided about it. It does not matter to us what the decision is," said Mufti. She was reacting to the Supreme Court's dismissal of a plea challenging the government's decision to constitute the Delimitation Commission for redrawing the Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir.
Mehbooba Mufti said that the delimitation of seats is “actually a process of election rigging, which is done before the elections”. Mehbooba further questioned Monday's verdict at a time when a plea against the abrogation of Article 370 and the Jammu and Kashmir Reorganization Act is already pending in the Supreme Court.
Describing the delimitation as a "conspiracy to make the BJP successful in the elections," the former Chief Minister said, "In favour of the BJP, the minority section was converted into a majority section and the majority section into a minority section." The plea related to the Jammu and Kashmir Delimitation Commission was pending in the Supreme Court for the last two years.
Also read: SC dismisses plea against delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir
A petition was filed against the Delimitation Commission by two political leaders of Srinagar Abdul Ghani Khan and Dr Muhammad Ayub Mattu, who had challenged the Delimitation. The petitioners argued in their petition that according to Article 170 of the Constitution, the delimitation was supposed to be done after 2026 saying that holding the exercise prematurely “is a clear violation of the Constitution and laws."
However, this petition was dismissed by the Supreme Court. Reacting to the dismissal of the plea, petitioners Dr Muhammad Ayub Mattu and Abdul Ghani Khan expressed disappointment over the development. Speaking to ETV Bharat, Dr Mattu said that he had high hopes on the Supreme Court that the court would consider his petition, but was disappointed when the petition was dismissed.
“This has disappointed the public and I am also disappointed with this decision. The Delimitation Commission formed on March 6, 2020, Union Ministry of Law and Justice (Legislative Department) has added the number of seats from 107 to 114 in Jammu and Kashmir, including 24 seats in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir. The Commission has proposed to reserve two seats in the Assembly for Kashmiri Pandits.
Apart from this, it has also been recommended to reserve two to four seats for the West Pak refugees living in Jammu province. The Delimitation Commission was headed by retired Justice Ranjana Prakash Desai with other members being the then Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra and the then Jammu and Kashmir Chief Electoral Officer KK Sharma.
