Guwahati: The Supreme Court has given the Central government a three-month extension to complete the delimitation exercise in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Manipur and Assam.

This decision was made after the Centre's solicitor general, Tushar Mehta, requested additional time due to ongoing consultations and violence in Manipur.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Sanjiv Khanna expressed concerns over the delay in the delimitation process, despite a 2020 presidential order that rescinded the deferment. The court questioned the government's role in the process, stating that once the presidential notification is revoked, the delimitation exercise should proceed automatically.

The Centre cited ongoing consultations in Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, as well as violence in Manipur, as factors complicating the delimitation process. The court has scheduled the next hearing for July 21 and directed the Centre to complete the necessary steps within the given timeframe.

The plea was filed by the "Delimitation Demand Committee for the State of Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Manipur & Nagaland in North East India," seeking immediate implementation of the delimitation exercise in these states. Advocate G Gangmei, representing the petitioners, argued that the 2020 presidential order made delimitation a legal obligation.

The petition alleged that the delay in delimitation violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which guarantees the right to equality. It highlighted that despite decades of peaceful elections in these states, delimitation had not been carried out since the amendment of the Delimitation Act in 2002, putting the northeastern states at a disadvantage compared to the rest of the country.