Photo Courtesy: nenow
Imphal: The Manipur High Court has slammed the brakes on all Census activities within the state. A division bench of Chief Justice M Sundar and Justice A Guneshwar Sharma issued the order on November 4. Census work stays frozen until April 30, 2027.
The ruling follows a public interest litigation brought by the Kangleipak Students’ Association and the International Peace and Social Advancement. Shanta Singh Nahakpam also filed a connected writ petition. The court mandated that even after authorities handle pending representations, the process must stay dead for another four weeks. This gives aggrieved parties time to file fresh legal challenges.
Petitioners argued that current ethnic violence and mass displacement make accurate counting impossible. They stressed that officials cannot conduct a proper headcount without first stabilizing administrative units and jurisdictional boundaries. They also raised alarms over population record accuracy.
The Centre initially deferred operations on August 31, just one day before the September 1 start date. Union Home Minister Amit Shah led a high-level review in New Delhi that prompted the move. Meitei and Naga groups pushed for a National Register of Citizens update before any Census or delimitation. Conversely, the Kuki-Zo Council slammed the NRC demand. The council described it as "premature and unjustified" while voicing support for the Census to proceed.
Comments