New Delhi, 25 July (H.S.): The Supreme Court declined to order the Centre to increase Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. A Bench led by Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh addressed pleas related to the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which mandates delimitation in the two states. The court ruled that Article 170 of the Constitution permits delimitation only after the first census post-2026.

This process is currently frozen, following the 84th and 87th Constitutional Amendments. The court dismissed claims that the Centre's delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir (increasing seats from 83 to 90) while excluding Andhra Pradesh and Telangana was arbitrary. It clarified the constitutional differences, stating that Jammu and Kashmir, now a union territory, is governed by specific parliamentary provisions.

Furthermore, the Telangana Assembly passed a resolution in March urging the Centre to raise seats from 119 to 153 based on the Reorganisation Act and the latest census. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy emphasized that the Centre previously indicated that delimitation would occur only after the 2026 census. He criticized the Centre's perceived double standards, pointing out the recent delimitation in Jammu and Kashmir and ongoing processes in Sikkim.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Indrani Sarkar