Southern States' Votes Could Become 'Of Little Value' After Population Based Delimitation: Justice KM Joseph
Amisha Shrivastava
23 Aug 2026 12:15 PM IST
Former Supreme Court judge Justice K.M. Joseph recently raised concerns over the delimitation exercise that is expected to follow a fresh census, warning that a population-based redistribution of parliamentary seats could reduce the relative value of votes in southern States.
Justice Joseph raised the issue while discussing the principle of “consent of the governed” underlying the US Declaration of Independence. He connected the principle to India's constitutional scheme, under which the number of representatives is linked to population.
He noted that the 1971 Census had been used for determining representation and explained the concern over undertaking delimitation on the basis of a new population count.
“If we are going to do it now, the concern of particularly the southern states that if you were to have a census and then prepare the number of representatives to be chosen, you will have a completely skewed, imbalanced, disproportionately imbalanced situation where the votes of the people in the southern states would be of little value relatively,” Justice Joseph observed.
He argued that reducing the relative value of votes would also affect the ability of people in the southern States to have a meaningful voice in Parliament. He therefore called for a solution to the concern.
“Being of little value equally means in substance that the proceedings in the Parliament will actually be of little meaning to us and then it must be taken that we are not giving our consent to it. This is how I am trying to understand it. So I would think that solution must be found,” he remarked.
He linked the issue to the central democratic principle that governments derive their legitimacy from the consent of the people.
“The central to the Declaration of American Independence is the concept that all governance, all government is justified on the basis of consent of the governed,” Justice Joseph observed.
Delivering a lecture to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence organized by the Kerala High Court Bar Association, the former judge highlighted the delimitation issue while reflecting on the American constitutional experience and its relevance to India.
Also from the lecture :
Centre Shouldn't Sit On Recommendations Reiterated By Collegium : Justice KM Joseph
