Patna High Court Puts Interim Stay on Caste-Based Survey in Bihar

The Bihar government had launched the exercise in January. But several PILs had challenged the caste survey.

It has been a long-standing demand of the social justice and Ambedkarite movements that the decennial census should collect caste-wise data.

(Photo: Altered by Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

The Patna High Court on Thursday, 4 May, put an interim stay on the caste-based survey initiated by the Bihar state government. The matter would be heard on 3 July next.

The Bihar government had launched the exercise in January this year and had aimed at compiling data on each family in a two-phase process. However, several petitions had been filed in the high court challenging the caste survey.

Only a day ago on Wednesday, the high court had reserved its judgment in the case and the division bench of chief justice K Vinod Chandran and justice Madhuresh Prasad had noted that it would grant interim relief to the petitioners if it found that the state government had:

• either exceeded its powers to commission such a survey;

• not followed the due process of law; or

• if there was an infringement of privacy of the respondents

“We will grant you interim relief if there is a violation of any of the three issues, otherwise we will allow them (the state government) to continue (with the exercise),” Justice Chandran had said.

Three pleas were filed in the court, including one by Youth for Equality, challenging Nitish Kumar-led government's caste-based survey.

The first phase of the survey, which involved houselisting exercise, was carried out from 7 January to 21 January. The second phase began on 15 April and was supposed to be concluded by 15 May.

Earlier today, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had expressed his annoyance to the caste survey. He had stated that the last complete caste-wise enumeration was done in 1931 and that enumeration of Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Minorities is done in every decennial census. Kumar also asserted that all parties have supported the survey in the legislature.

The demand for caste enumeration in India's decennial census has grown louder in the recent past. Many Opposition parties, including Kumar's Janata Dal (United), its alliance partner Rashtriya Janata Dal, Congress, Samajwadi Party, Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam and others have urged the Union government to accept this demand.