Ward Delimitation Must Be Based On Population, Not Number Of Voters: Rajasthan High Court

The Rajasthan High Court has dismissed a challenge against the formation of wards in the upcoming elections of Municipal Body, opining that the determining factor for formation of wards is not the number of voters but population.

The division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjeev Prakash Sharma and Justice Shubha Mehta opined that the entire writ was misleading and based on an erroneous presumption that wards were determined based on the number of voters.

For context, the petitioner had filed the writ petitioner after the draft electoral roll of the elections was published that disclosed the actual ward-wise number of voters.

It was alleged that there was extreme disparity in the number of voters amongst the wards which far exceeded the prescribed variation of +/- 10%. It was argued that such disparity was violative of equal representation underlying Articles 14 and 243R.

It was further argued that, “…larger population of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes have been included in the wards with higher voter population, whereas wards predominantly comprising the general category population have been placed in smaller wards, thereby giving greater representative value to some voters over others.”

After hearing the contentions, the Court referred to Section 9 of Rajasthan Municipalities Act, 2009, and highlighted that the provision which laid down mechanism for division of Municipality into wards, did not use the word “voters” but “population”.

In this background, the Court held that while there might be higher population of a particular ward, the number of voters may be less.

“The basis of the petition, therefore, being on a presumption that wards should be determined on the basis of number of voters, is wholly misconceived.”

Accordingly, the petition was dismissed.

Title: Amrita Meena v the State of Rajasthan & Ors.

Citation: 2026 LiveLaw (Raj) 258

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