Supreme Court dismisses plea for delimitation exercise in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed a plea seeking directions to the central government to conduct a delimitation exercise for Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.

A division bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi observed that the two states cannot be treated on a par with Jammu and Kashmir, where delimitation was undertaken in 2022 and assembly seats were increased.

The bench said that allowing the plea would mean opening floodgates for all other states to approach seeking parity. "We hold that the constitutional mandate under 170(3) serves as a bar. Demand for the delimitation is contrary to the same and thus fails. Jammu & Kashmir, having been reconstituted, is not governed by chapter 3 of part VII of the Constitution. Thus, we find no merit that exclusion of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana from the impugned delimitation notification is arbitrary or violative of the constitution," the bench ruled.


The plea contended that while delimitation was conducted for J&K and the number of seats was increased, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana were left out and that this decision was arbitrary. It also argued that the decision was in violation of the doctrine of legitimate expectations. However, the argument did not find favour with the SC.

"Doctrine of legitimate expectation is a well settled principle, though it does not lead to any legal right, and it cannot override any express provision of law and it needs to be reasonable and in consonance with the statute. Expectation under the Andhra Pradesh Act cannot be seen in isolation as it is subject to Article 170 of the Constitution," the bench held.