The State Election Commission (SEC) appointed state officers as its delegates for election purposes as it lacked sufficient manpower and that any final decision on the delimitation of municipal wards would be taken only by the commission, the Bombay High Court was told on Tuesday.

SEC's advocate Sachin Shetye told a division bench of Justices Amjad Sayed and Abhay Ahuja that, as per rule, a delimitation notification has to be issued six months before elections. The notification pertains to the outer boundaries of a corporation and not about internal changes.