In Brief
The DMK party challenged a Tamil Nadu Panchayats election notification on grounds that delimitation and SC/ST reservations had not been completed for nine newly created districts. The Supreme Court held that elections could not be held in these nine districts without fresh delimitation under the constitutional scheme of Part IX, as proper population-based delimitation was essential to fulfil reservation mandates. The Court ordered elections to proceed in the remaining districts while directing the state to complete delimitation for the nine new districts within four months, balancing the right to elections against constitutional prerequisites for fair representation.
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