The Supreme Court on Monday (October 5, 2026) agreed to hear a petition questioning whether State governments can undertake a fresh delimitation of wards and alter the boundaries during an ongoing Census exercise.
A three-judge Bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant indicated listing the case on October 9 for hearing. The High Court, in a judgment on October 1, held in favour of the Andhra Pradesh government that the prohibition against delimitation, issued under the Census Act, related only to an ‘administrative block’ such as a ‘municipality’ and did not extend to a ‘ward’. Nazki, in an oral mentioning, submitted that the High Court’s conclusion was contradictory to a Madhya Pradesh High Court judgment, which had held that the prohibition on delimitation under Rule 8(iv) of the 1990 Rules extended to wards within a municipal area.
Mr. Nazki submitted.
“There is a direct conflict between two High Courts on a provision of a Central statute that operates uniformly throughout India, and an authoritative pronouncement of the Supreme Court is required,” Mr.
However, the question of whether ‘administrative blocks’ would also mean ‘wards’ came up for a decision before the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
