Why states that can't control population get more seats in Parliament: Madras high court
Can states successfully controlling their population be robbed of their political representations in Parliament, the Madras high court asked.
The Madras high court has recently passed an order asking the Centre why southern states like Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh which have successfully controlled population will have a fewer number of seats in Parliament than states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, which have high population. The bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalendhi passed the order on August 17, before Justice Kirubakaran retired, Bar and Bench reported. The order said that Tamil Nadu should be monetarily compensated for the past 14 elections and the amount, according to the court's estimate, will be around ₹5,600 crore.
The high court said Tamil Nadu had 41 representatives in the Lok Sabha until 1962. Owing to a reduction in population, the number of Tamil Nadu Lok Sabha constituencies was reduced to 39. It is not about two seats as every vote matters, the court said referring to the 1999 no-confidence motion against the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government.
The state had no fault as the number of political representatives was reduced based on the population count, the court said, adding that its quota of Rajya Sabha seats should be increased in that case. That way, it will also become an acknowledgement of Tamil Nadhu's successful birth control programme.
"Population control cannot be a factor to decide the number of political representatives of the States in the Parliament. Those States which failed to implement the birth control programmes were benefited with more political representatives in Parliament whereas States, especially, southern States, namely Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh, which successfully implemented the birth control programmes stood to lose 2 seats in each Parliament ... States have been reorganised on linguistic basis as per the States Reorganisation Act, 1956. India is a multi-religious, multi-racial and multi-linguistic country. Therefore, the powers should be distributed equally and there should be a balance of powers", the Court said.
The court made these observations as it rejected a plea to de-serve the Tenkasi Parliamentary constituency, presently reserved for SC candidates. The court said it would remain reserved till the next delimitation exercise, which will be carried out in 2026.