Chennai: The Madras high court on Saturday questioned the union government for punishing states like Tamil Nadu with a reduction of parliament seats for successfully implementing population control measures. The court has also asked whether the states could be compensated financially for losing out on parliament seats.
The court made the observations while hearing a writ petition seeking dereservation of the Tenkasi parliamentary constituency. The segment has been a reserved constituency for more than 50 years.
According to a Times of India report, Tamil Nadu had 41 Lok Sabha members till 1962 and the number had dropped to 39 after the 1967 parliamentary election as the state had managed to control its population.
Quoting a division bench of Justice N Kirubakaran and Justice B Pugalendhi, the report said that when the vote of a member of parliament is capable of toppling a government, Tamil Nadu has lost two MPs because of the successful implementation of birth control measures. The report noted how former prime minister AB Vajpayee’s government had lost by one vote when the no-confidence motion was moved.
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Even though the contribution of MPs could not be determined monetarily, it could be taken as Rs 200 crore in five years, the bench said and added that Tamil Nadu needs to be compensated Rs 400 crore for every election since 1967 for reducing two MP seats and it amounts to Rs 5,600 crore, the report added.
The court, according to the report, said that the centre should compensate Tamil Nadu financially or by providing additional representation in the Rajya Sabha.
The court further questioned the union government why it cannot restore the number of MP seats to 41 from the next election and suo motu impleaded top ten political parties including DMK, AIADMK, Congress and BJP to submit their responses, the report added.