• The Supreme Court has directed the Centre to set up a fresh delimitation commission to ensure a proportional representation of the communities specified as Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), as mandated under the Constitution.
• The directions were issued by a bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra on a plea seeking a proportionate representation of the Limbu and Tamang tribal communities in the assemblies of Sikkim and West Bengal.
• The plea sought directions to the Centre, Election Commission and the two States to take steps for a proportional representation of the STs, as guaranteed
  • under articles 330 (reservation of seats for SCs and STs in the House of People) and
  • 332 (reservation of seats for SCs and STs in Legislative Assemblies of States) of the Constitution, to prevent a violation of Article 14 (equality before law).

ABOUT DELIMITATION COMMISSION

42nd Constitutional Amendment (1976) froze this delimitation exercise until the first Census after 2000 was published. In 2002, the 84th Constitutional Amendment further extended the freeze till 2026.

• Delimitation literally means the act or process of fixing limits or boundaries of territorial constituencies in a country or a province having a legislative body.
• The job of delimitation is assigned to a high power body. Such a body is known as Delimitation Commission or a Boundary Commission.
• Composition-
  • A SC judge (Current or retired) acts as Chairman
  • The Chief Election Commissioner of India or an Election Commissioner nominated by him/her.
  • Respective State’s Election Commissioner.
• In India, such Delimitation Commissions have been constituted 4 times – in 1952, 1963 , 1973 and in 2002.
• The Delimitation Commission in India is a high power body whose orders have the force of law and cannot be called in question before any court.
• These orders come into force on a date to be specified by the President of India in this behalf.
• The copies of its orders are laid before the House of the People and the State Legislative Assembly concerned, but no modifications are permissible therein by them.