Key Facts

The Manipur High Court has ruled that the Census exercise in the state will remain suspended until at least 30 April 2027, holding that the postponement notifications already issued by the Centre and the state government must remain in force until that date and cannot be withdrawn or altered in the interim. A Bench of Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma was disposing of two petitions, one filed by an Imphal resident and the other by the Kangleipak Students' Association and the International Peace and Social Advancement, challenging the plan to begin house-listing, the first stage of the 2027 Census, in the state from 1 September. The petitioners argued that the enumeration was premature given that thousands remain displaced by the ethnic violence that began in May 2023, and expressed concern that Census figures could affect the redrawing of Assembly constituency boundaries; some groups have separately sought the updation of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) and a recount of 2001 Census figures in certain hill areas before any fresh enumeration. The court asked the Registrar-General and Census Commissioner of India to decide on these representations on their own merits and permitted the petitioners to approach the court again if dissatisfied.

GK Context

The decennial Census of India, last conducted in 2011, is being held after a 16-year gap, with the 2027 Census's reference date fixed at 1 March 2027; Census figures are also used as the basis for the delimitation (redrawing) of Assembly and Lok Sabha constituencies, making the exercise politically sensitive, especially in a state like Manipur where ethnic violence between the Meitei and Kuki-Zo communities since May 2023 has caused large-scale displacement, and where the Meitei and Naga organisations' demand for an updated National Register of Citizens (NRC) ahead of the Census contrasts with Kuki-Zo organisations' view that such a demand is premature.