The Manipur High Court’s move comes amid demands from Meitei and Naga groups for an updated NRC before the Census, with petitioners citing displacement, alleged illegal immigration and concerns over future delimitation.
BY PC Bureau
AUGUST 31: The Census process in Manipur has been withheld until further orders, according to Shanta Nahakpam, convenor of the 14 civil society organisations (CSOs) that have been seeking an update of the National Register of Citizens (NRC) before the Census.
Nahakpam said the matter was heard by a Division Bench of the Manipur High Court on Monday and that the next hearing has been fixed for October 12, 2026.
The development comes amid a growing dispute over the conduct of Census 2027 in the state, with several Meitei and Naga civil society groups demanding that an NRC exercise, preferably using 1951 as the base year, be undertaken before the Census and any subsequent delimitation exercise.
The groups have argued that the continuing displacement caused by the ethnic conflict that began in 2023 could affect the accuracy of population data. They have also raised concerns over alleged illegal immigration, particularly from Myanmar, demographic changes, political representation and the allocation of welfare benefits.
The Manipur Assembly has previously adopted resolutions supporting an NRC.
The Census process in Manipur has been withheld until further orders. The next hearing in the matter has been fixed for October 12, 2026.#censusnrc #Manipur pic.twitter.com/p673lbub7n
— Poknapham / The People’s Chronicle (@PoknaphamNews) August 31, 2026
The Census process had already faced disruptions, with training of enumerators deferred in several valley districts amid protests and law-and-order concerns. Enumerators, largely government school teachers, were scheduled to conduct the house-listing phase from September 1.
The demand for an NRC before the Census has, however, been strongly opposed by Kuki-Zo organisations. The Kuki-Zo Council has argued that the Census should proceed as scheduled so that an impartial and verified demographic picture can be established.
The issue reached the Manipur High Court through petitions filed by the Kangleipak Students Association and Shanta Singh Nahakpam. The petitioners have argued that conducting the Census amid large-scale displacement could result in distorted demographic data and subsequently affect delimitation and political representation.
READ: The Baffling Silence Of Manipur Deputy CM Nemcha Kipgen, Kuki-Zo MLAs
On August 24, the High Court constituted a Special Division Bench comprising Chief Justice M. Sundar and Justice A. Guneshwar Sharma to hear the matter.
The court proceedings come against the backdrop of competing demands from different communities over population verification and the timing of the Census.
While the petitioners have sought an NRC-based verification process before the Census, Kuki-Zo groups have maintained that postponing the Census would itself prevent the collection of reliable demographic data.
The latest development is therefore significant for the state’s Census preparations. With the process now withheld pending further orders, the next hearing on October 12 is expected to provide greater clarity on whether and how the Census exercise will proceed in Manipur.
The claims made by the civil society groups regarding the Census and NRC remain contested, while the precise scope and implications of the High Court’s order will be determined by the court proceedings and its formal directions.
