Don’t have voting rights, can’t sign any decision
Srinagar: National Conference’s decision to abstain from proceedings of the Delimitation Commission constituted by the Central government for fixing boundaries of Assembly segments of Jammu & Kashmir may have triggered questions from different quarters, but its MPs will have limited advisory role as associate members of the panel.
The law governing delimitation exercise explicitly states that associate members of the panel would not have voting rights nor they can sign any decision of the Election Commission of India.
“None of the associate members shall have a right to vote or to sign any decision of the Commission,” reads sub-section (4) of section 5 of “The Delimitation Commission Act-2002”.
After constitution of the delimitation commission by the government, Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla nominated Abdullah, Justice (retd) Hasnain Masoodi, Muhammad Akbar Lone, Jitendra Singh and Jugal Kishore as associate members of the panel.
While BJP MP’s participated in the meeting convened by the panel with its associate members last week, NC MPs stayed away from the exercise on the grounds that the party has challenged The Jammu & Kashmir Reorganisation Act-2019 in the Supreme Court, under which the panel was constituted.
After NC boycotted the meeting, J&K’s Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha said those demanding early Assembly elections in the Union Territory must cooperate with the Delimitation Commission for completion of the exercise at the earliest.
Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad also questioned NC’s decision to boycott meeting of the panel.
“Had they been present there they would have strongly opposed the BJP and put forth their arguments,” he said.
However, legally speaking, NC’s participation would hardly make any difference as associate members don’t have voting rights.
“The associate members have mere advisory role. Their role is limited to assist the body in conducting the exercise,” the experts told Precious Kashmir.
The delimitation panel headed by former Supreme Court Judge Justice (retd) Ranjana Desai has been mandated to fix boundaries of 90 Assembly and five parliamentary segments in J&K.
It is also empowered to reserve seats for Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes in the 90-member Assembly.
Before reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir, delimitation of J&K’s Assembly segments was not possible till first census after 2026- that is at least not before 2031- due to amendments carried out in the J&K Constitution and J&K Representation Act-1957.
The Re-organisation Act enacted by the Parliament in August 2019 paved the way for delimitation exercise in J&K.
