Supreme Court Postpones Decision on Bihar’s Caste-Based Survey Controversy
The Supreme Court has postponed the hearing on a series of petitions challenging the legitimacy of the caste-based survey initiated by the Bihar government. The hearing, overseen by Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, has been rescheduled to October 3.
The survey, which has been a subject of contention, was upheld by the Patna High Court earlier, deeming the exercise as
“perfectly valid initiated with due competence.”
The high court rejected the argument that gathering data based on caste equated to a census.
The Supreme Court’s decision to adjourn came despite opposition from one of the petitioners. Justice Khanna clarified,
“He said it has already been published. That it is already in the public domain. What he said is that the data is currently being analysed.”
The Centre, through the Ministry of Home Affairs, submitted an affidavit asserting that only the central government is constitutionally empowered to conduct a census, as per
“entry 69 in the union list of the 7th schedule of the Constitution.”
This statement was made in response to an earlier affidavit that claimed no entity other than the Central government could undertake any action resembling a census.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, had previously been granted time to file a response, indicating that the government wished to intervene given the potential “ramifications” of the matter.
The Bihar government, on the other hand, maintained that it had concluded its door-to-door survey, which began following a notification issued in June of the previous year.
The caste survey by the Bihar government faced challenges in the Patna High Court from various individuals and organizations. They argued that such a survey was akin to a census, a task that only the Centre could undertake. Additionally, concerns were raised about the state obtaining sensitive information about individuals’ caste or religion without ensuring data security, potentially infringing on citizens’ right to privacy.
Despite these challenges, the Patna High Court dismissed the petitions on August 1. In response, several entities, including NGOs ‘Youth for Equality’ and ‘Ek Soch Ek Prayas’, appealed to the Supreme Court, seeking a halt on the publication of the survey’s findings.
The petition filed by ‘Ek Soch Ek Prayas’ and other pleas against the high court’s decision were listed by the apex court. The petition contended that the Bihar government’s “census” exercise lacked authority, legislative competence, and was tainted with malafide intentions.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, addressing the controversy, clarified that the state conducted a caste-based “counting” and not a “census.”
The survey, aimed at compiling the socioeconomic data of each family in the state, was conducted in two phases. The first phase took place between January 7 and 21. The second phase commenced on April 15 and was slated to continue until May 15. However, the Patna High Court temporarily halted the survey midway. The exercise resumed on August 2 after the high court’s approval and concluded on August 6.
Case Details: Ek Soch Ek Paryas v. Union of India | Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 16942 of 2023 and other connected matters.
