Bihar caste survey: Patna HC rejects state govt’s application for early hearing

The HC had on May 4, while hearing the petition challenging caste survey in the state, had stayed the exercise with immediate effect in its interim order and fixed July 3 as the next date of hearing

The Patna high court on Tuesday rejected the Bihar government interlocutory application (IA) for an early hearing in the case pertaining to the caste survey.

The hearing will take place as scheduled on July 3. (File image)

The HC had on May 4, while hearing the petition challenging caste survey in the state, had stayed the exercise with immediate effect in its interim order and fixed July 3 as the next date of hearing.

Later, the state government filed the IA before the bench of chief justice K Vinod Chandran and justice Madhuresh Prasad on May 6, taking the plea that “the matter be disposed of as early as possible as the interim order had in detail adjudicated the issue and after that not much remained to serve any meaningful purpose”.

The court agreed to hear the IA on Tuesday but stuck to the July 3 hearing date as decided earlier.

Advocate general PK Shahi pleaded that the state government be allowed to complete the caste survey exercise, which was stopped midway after the court’s stay order, till final adjudication of the case adding that no data will be made public, the court however refused to accept the plea.

“We will hear the matter on July 3 only. There is no need to change that. We cannot allow the state to go ahead with the survey even with the undertaking that the data will not be shared,” said the chief justice and dismissed the petition.

The high court, while staying the caste survey on Thursday, had directed the Bihar government to ensure that the data already collected are secured and not shared with anybody till final orders are passed in the writ petition.

The court observed that “the caste-based survey is a census in the garb of a survey, the power to carry out which is exclusively on the Union Parliament which has also enacted a Census Act, 1948”.

“There is also the question raised of data integrity and security which has to be more elaborately addressed by the State. Prima facie, we are of the opinion that the State has no power to carry out a caste-based survey, in the manner in which it is fashioned now, which would amount to a census, thus impinging upon the legislative power of the Union Parliament,” it observed.

The high court stay order came while hearing a petition by Youth for Equality after the Supreme Court directed it to look into the matter and dispose of the case in three days.

The government immediately ordered district magistrates to ensure compliance of the court order.

The first round of the caste survey was conducted between January 7 and 21. The second round started on April 15 and was scheduled to continue till May 15.