Population can't be a factor to decide Parliament seats - Madras HC

A recent Madras high court judgment could fuel a new debate in Indian politics.In its order passed on August 17, the court asked the centre to see if the Lok Sabha representation of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh - the other state that has seen a drop in representation in the parliament - be restored, or to see if the two can be compensated monetarily. The court pegged the monetary compensation to Tamil Nadu at Rs 5,600 crore. The bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and B Pugalendhi passed the order  before Justice Kirubakaran retired, 

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. 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.

"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 also directed the centre to see if Article 81 can be amended to maintain the same number of parliamentary constituencies irrespective of change in the population of the respective states.