The Supreme Court on Friday declined to issue a direction to the Centre to increase the number of Assembly seats in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, reported news agency IANS.

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh was dealing with pleas seeking implementation of the provisions under the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act, 2014, which provided for delimitation of Assembly seats in the two successor states, reported IANS.

In its judgment, the Justice Kant-led Bench refused to direct delimitation in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, observing that Article 170 of the Constitution allows delimitation only after the first census conducted post-2026.