The Kerala High Court, on Wednesday, quashed the ward delimitation order issued by the Kerala government in eight municipalities and one panchayat stating that the exercise was already carried out in these local bodies in 2015 based on the 2011 census.
A single bench of Justice Mohammed Nias CP quashed the ward delimitation carried out in Mattannur, Sreekandapuram, Panoor, Koduvally, Payyoli, Mukkam, Feroke and Pattambi municipalities, and Padanna panchayat in Kasargod observing that a delimitation exercise was already carried out in these local bodies in 2015 based on the 2011 census by the state government by invoking the power under section 4 read with 6 (1) of the Acts.
The court said a delimitation process based on a previously utilised data undermines the validity of the exercise.
The order came in the petition filed by some Indian Union Muslim League(IUML) councillors in these municipalities against the ward delimitation order issued by the government. In their petition, they submitted that no census was carried out prior to the issue of the delimitation order by the state government .
They argued that a fresh ward division could have been done only after the new census- to ascertain the present population.