Supreme Court questions delay in delimitation process for 4 Northeastern states

The Supreme Court has questioned the delay in carrying out the delimitation exercise in the Northeastern states of Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur and Assam despite the President’s 2020 order rescinding the earlier deferment orders.
On Tuesday, a bench led by Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna questioned the Centre on what was done to “set the ball rolling” to conduct the exercise, considering that it had been 4 years since the presidential order, which it observed was enough to proceed with the process.
The court told Additional Solicitor General KM Natraj, appearing for the Centre, that the delimitation exercise was a statutory mandate and had to be done.
It asked him to take instructions regarding the issue granting him further time to do the same and accordingly adjourned the case to January 2025.
The counsel for the petitioner told the court that while delimitation took place in Assam last year, the exercise was yet to begin in the three other states.
In response, the Additional Solicitor General said consultation is ongoing for Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, but the situation in Manipur might not be conducive in the wake of the ethnic violence in the state.
It was submitted on behalf of the Election Commission to begin delimitation. Directions from the Centre are required under the Representation of the People Act, 1950, referring to Assam where such directions were issued.
The court was considering a petition filed seeking immediate implementation of the delimitation exercise in these states.