SC/ST representation in State assemblies: Supreme Court tells Centre to set up fresh delimitation commission

The Supreme Court on Thursday directed the Central government to constitute a fresh Delimitation Commission to ensure proportional representation of the communities designated as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). .A bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra noted that an additional seat has to be made available in West Bengal Legislative Assembly which would require use of power under the Delimitation Act."In regard to state of West Bengal it has been submitted on prima facie basis by ECI that broadly it would appear that an additional seat has to be made available in the state assembly for the scheduled tribes in order to accomodate the principle of proportional representation. The above circumstance makes it abundantly necessary for the Centre to take recourse to power under Delimitation Act 2002 to ensure that provisions under article 332 and 333 is duly implemented," the Court said.Further, the Court stated that it had asked the Central government to set up a Delimitation Commission."We have made it clear at the end of judgment that they have to set up the delimitation commission," the Court said..It was hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) petition seeking proportionate representation for Scheduled Tribes in the legislative assemblies of West Bengal and Sikkim. The Supreme Court had on Wednesday stated that the Central government must consider reconstitution of the Delimitation Commission to ensure proportional representation of the communities designated as Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST). The Court had added that it was conscious it cannot direct Parliament to enact a law.It disregarded the Central government’s argument that the Delimitation Commission cannot be constituted till the 2026 census is carried out, the Court said that Article 371(F) can be a route in respect of Sikkim. The Court had opined that there can be no doubt as to the constitutional basis of the claim of Limboo and Tamang communities - which have been recognized as STs - for grant of proportional representation.In 2018, the Ministry of Home Affairs had initiated the exercise to increase seats in the Sikkim Legislative Assembly from 32 to 40 to provide reservations for the two tribes, the Court noted. However, it added that no action has been taken since.The Court noted that Article 327 empowers Parliament to make provisions in relation to elections including the delimitation of constituencies. On Article 325, the Court said the Election Commission (EC) has broad power in relation to control and superintendence of elections.