What happens to Census 2027 in Manipur? It stays on hold until at least April 30, 2027, the Manipur High Court has said, directing the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to decide seven representations against the exercise by a reasoned order, with the consent of the Centre and the State.
Imphal: Notifications keeping the Census of India, 2027 in abeyance in Manipur shall continue without any rollback or modification till April 30, 2027, the Manipur High Court has ordered, while the Registrar General and Census Commissioner considers representations questioning the timing of the exercise amid the situation in the State, including concerns raised over internally displaced persons and population records [The Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA) & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors.].
A Division Bench of Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma passed the common oral judgment on November 4, 2026, disposing of a public interest litigation by the Kangleipak Students’ Association and International Peace and Social Advancement, along with a connected writ petition filed by Shanta Singh Nahakpam.
The hold and the road to a decision
Recording a consensus among all counsel that larger public interest would be better served by a decision on the representations already on the case file, the Court reproduced the seven representations, dated between August 2025 and July 2026, from the petitioners, a joint committee opposing the delimitation exercise in Manipur and 14 civil society organisations. It then directed:
“To put it differently, the census exercise for the State of Manipur will continue to be put on hold/kept in abeyance till 30.04.2027.”
Any other person or body may send a representation to the Registrar General on or before November 25, 2026, and the petitioners may file additional ones in the same window. All of them are to be decided on merits by one common speaking order by April 30, 2027. The Registrar General may hold public consultations and, if it decides against them, must give reasons in the order.
Once the speaking order is made, it is to be served on counsel for the petitioners within five working days and uploaded on the websites of the Manipur Government and the Registrar General. The census process will remain in abeyance for a further four weeks so that anyone aggrieved can approach the High Court, which will then hear the matter on merits with all contentions left open.
What the petitioners challenged
The petitioners challenged the Centre’s notification of January 7, 2026 (S.O. 99(E)) issued under the Census Act, 1948 and the Census Rules, 1990, and the State notification of March 22, 2026, under which house listing operations in Manipur were to begin on September 1, 2026. Their senior counsel also pointed to resolutions of the Manipur Legislative Assembly of August 5, 2022 and March 1, 2024 on the National Register of Citizens.
On August 31, 2026, a day before house listing was due to start, the Deputy Solicitor General told the Court that the Registrar General had decided to defer house listing in Manipur, and the Advocate General said the State would keep its notification in abeyance. Both statements were recorded as undertakings. The Registrar General then issued notifications dated September 5, 2026 (S.O. 4917(E)) and October 30, 2026 (S.O. 5913(E)), putting the census exercise in the State on hold.
The Court closed its judgment by placing on record its appreciation of the way the case was argued:
“Considering the facts and circumstances of the case, the nature of the matter, larger public interest and national interest involved, this Court deems it appropriate to place on record its appreciation for all counsel, senior counsel, learned Advocate General and learned DSGI for taking a very fair and balanced approach to the matter without treating the same like a regular adversarial legal drill.”
The bigger picture
Census 2027 is the first national count in well over a decade and feeds into delimitation, reservations and welfare planning. Manipur is now the one State where the High Court has formally recorded and extended a pause, tying the restart to a reasoned decision by the Census Commissioner on the concerns raised by civil society groups.
The order does not decide whether the census should go ahead in Manipur or on what terms. It leaves that call to the Centre after a structured hearing of objections, while keeping judicial review open, an approach the Court said was possible because the Centre, the State and the petitioners treated the case as a shared problem rather than a contest.
Case Title: The Kangleipak Students’ Association (KSA) & Anr. v. Union of India & Ors., with Shanta Singh Nahakpam v. Union of India & Ors.
Case No.: PIL No. 14 of 2026 with MC(PIL) Nos. 16 and 18 of 2026, WP(C) No. 623 of 2026 and MC(WP(C)) No. 649 of 2026; 2026:MNHC:259-DB
Bench: Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma, High Court of Manipur
Date of Judgment: November 4, 2026
Appearances: Senior Advocate Kh.
Tarunkumar with Advocate Meinam Rustam Singh for the PIL petitioners; Advocate Hijam Chandrakumar Singh for the writ petitioner; Senior Advocate and DSGI Kh. Samarjit with Advocate Nongdamba Naorem for the Union; Senior Advocate and Advocate General Lenin Hijam with Advocate Thanyomi Keishing for the State of Manipur
