The Karnataka High Court refused to stay the State’s caste survey but ordered that participation must be voluntary. All data collected during the survey must be kept strictly confidential, the Court said.
Bengaluru: The Karnataka High Court on Thursday refused to put on hold the State Government’s plan to conduct a socio-economic and educational survey, widely known as a caste survey.
However, the Court emphasized that participation in the survey must be completely voluntary and all data collected should be kept strictly confidential.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi passed the interim order while hearing a batch of petitions challenging the survey.
The Court ordered,
“We do not consider it apposite to interdict the process of survey. However, we direct that data collected shall not be disclosed to any person. The State Backward Classes Commission (which is conducting the survey) shall ensure that the data collected is fully protected and kept confidential. We further direct the commission to submit a notification declaring that participation in this survey is voluntary and no person is obligated to disclose any of the information. This information will necessarily have to be communicated to all participants at the threshold by enumerators before calling on them to participate in the survey,”
The Court further clarified that the State cannot force or persuade anyone to provide information if they do not wish to participate.
The Court added,
“If a participant declines to participate in the survey, the enumerator will take no further steps to persuade or cajole the participant to divulge any information,”
The petitions before the Court argued that the survey is effectively a disguised census and involves unnecessary intrusion into the private lives of citizens.
During the hearing, the State, represented by Advocate General Shashi Kiran Shetty, assured the Court that there are adequate safeguards in place to protect the private data collected during the survey.
He also said that he would file an affidavit on the same by the next day. Senior Advocate AM Singhvi appeared for the State, while Senior Advocate Dr. Ravi Varma Kumar represented the State’s Backward Classes Commission.
Since the Court refused to stay the survey, it allowed all parties to submit further written arguments and documents on the matter in the coming weeks.
The petitioners include the Rajya Vokkaliga Sangha, several individuals from the Vokkaliga community including former Advocate Association of Bengaluru (AAB) President KN Subba Reddy, members of the Lingayat community, and the Akhila Karnataka Brahmana Maha Sabha.
The Karnataka High Court’s decision ensures that the caste survey can proceed but sets clear conditions to protect citizens’ privacy, making participation fully voluntary and guaranteeing confidentiality of all collected data.
Click Here To Read More Reports on Caste Survey
FOLLOW US FOR MORE LEGAL UPDATES ON YOUTUBE
