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Supreme Court adjourns pleas opposing Bihar caste survey, next hearing on Oct 3
On a plea challenging the Patna high court’s August 1 order giving the go-ahead for a caste survey, the bench noted that it was yet to go through the affidavit submitted by the Centre
The Supreme Court on Wednesday adjourned the hearing of petitions challenging the publication of the caste survey conducted by the Bihar government by a month.
Posting the matter to October 3, the bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti clarified that it had not granted any stay on the publication of the survey.
On a plea challenging the Patna high court’s August 1 order giving the go-ahead for a caste survey, the bench noted that it was yet to go through the affidavit submitted by the Centre which claimed that the government which is empowered under the Constitution to conduct census is the ‘Union government’.
On August 28, the Centre through the ministry of home affairs filed a two-page affidavit stating that census is a subject that falls under ‘entry 69 in the union list of the 7th schedule of the Constitution’ and it is under this power, the Centre has enacted the Census Act, 1948.
“The said Act empowers only the central government to conduct the census under Section 3 of the Census Act,” read the affidavit.
This affidavit was filed in quick succession to replace an earlier affidavit filed by the Centre the same day asserting that other than the Central government, “no other body under the Constitution or otherwise is entitled to conduct the exercise of either census or any action akin to the census”.
According to the Centre, the Bihar government has “no business to conduct a caste survey”.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta who appeared for the Centre was granted time on August 21 to file a response after he indicated that the government would like to intervene as the matter had certain “ramifications”.
Meanwhile, Bihar has claimed that it had completed the door-to-door survey that began following a notification issued in June last year.
Earlier on August 7, the top court had refused to stay the Patna High Court’s order giving the go-ahead for a caste survey in Bihar and deferred the hearing on petitions challenging it to August 14.
The Bihar government’s caste survey was challenged by a group of individuals and organisations before the Patna high court claiming that such a survey was like census that the Centre alone could undertake.
The petitioners also claimed that the state cannot obtain sensitive information about the caste, or religion of persons without ensuring the safety of data as it infringes on citizens’ valuable right to privacy.
The petitions were dismissed by the high court on August 1 against which the petitioners, including NGOs such as ‘Youth for Equality’ and ‘Ek Sock Ek Prayas’, filed appeals in the top court seeking a stay on the publication of survey details.
The apex court listed the petition filed by the NGO ‘Ek Soch Ek Prayas’ along with other pleas against the same order of the high court.
The petition has submitted that the entire exercise of conducting a “census” by the Bihar government is without authority and legislative competence, and reeks of malafide.
Meanwhile, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has said that the state held a caste-based “counting” and not a “census”.
The survey to compile the socioeconomic data of each family in the state was held in two phases; the first round was conducted between January 7 and 21. The second round started on April 15 and was scheduled to continue till May 15, but halfway through the process, the Patna high court temporarily suspended the survey. The exercise resumed on August 2 after the high court gave its approval, and concluded on August 6.
