3.1. Readjustment of Seats after every Census

Article 82 of the Constitution declares that upon the completion of each census, the allocation of seats in the House of the People to the States and division of each State into territorial constituencies shall be readjusted by such authority and in such manner as Parliament may by law determine.

Article 170 makes provision in regard to the seats in the State Legislative Assemblies and the division of the States into territorial constituencies. Article 327 gives specific power to Parliament to make elaborate provision for such readjustment including delimitation of constituencies and all other related matters. The delimitation of constituencies is done by the Delimitation Commission as per provisions of the Delimitation Act. Delimitation Commissions have been set up four times in the past viz. 1952, 1963, 1973 and 2002 under Delimitation Commission Acts of 1952, 1962, 1972 and 2002 respectively.

As per Article 82 of the Constitution of India, there has to be readjustment of seats after each census (every 10 years) and such adjustment should be based on the population. However, the 42nd Amendment Act of 1976, provisions were included in Articles 55, 82, 170 and 330 of the Constitution not to make any changes to the number of Lok Sabha seats, Assembly seats etc. until the figures from the first Census after the year 2000 have been published. This ban on readjustment was extended for another 25 years (ie, upto year 2026) by the 84th Amendment Act of 2001.

The 84th Amendment Act of 2001 also empowered the government to undertake readjustment and rationalisation of territorial constituencies in the states on the basis of the population figures of 1991 census. Subsequently, the 87thAmendment Act of 2003 provided for the delimitation of constituencies on the basis of 2001 census and not 1991 census. However, this can be done without altering the number of seats allotted to each state in the Lok Sabha.