Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, May 4: In a set back to the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar, the Patna High Court on Thursday stayed the caste-based survey being conducted by the Bihar government and championed by the Chief Minister as a move to help the disadvantaged.
The High Court ordered to stop the caste-based census in its interim order while hearing a petition filed by Akhilesh Kumar and others challenging and seeking an interim stay on the enumeration of castes and economic survey in Bihar. On Wednesday, the Patna HC completed the hearing and reserved its judgement on the petition. The next hearing is scheduled on July 7.
The state government is likely to challenge the High Court’s order putting on hold the survey in the Supreme Court, official sources said.
Hearing a batch of petitions challenging the survey, the court directed the government to immediately stop the caste-based headcount, and ensure that the data already collected is secured and not shared with anybody until final orders are passed.
“We are of the considered opinion that the petitioners have made out a prima facie case against the continuation of the process of caste-based survey, as attempted by the State of Bihar. There is also the question raised of data integrity and security, which has to be more elaborately addressed by the state,” the court said.
“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 added.
During Wednesday’s hearing, a division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad had heard advocates Dinu Kumar, Ritu Raj and Abhinav Srivastava on behalf of the petitioners and advocate General P.K. Shahi on behalf of the State. Dinu Kumar told the court that the State Government was conducting caste and economic surveys and pointed out that this right to conduct surveys was beyond the jurisdiction of the State Government. Advocate General P.K. Shahi had said the survey was being conducted to make plans for public welfare and to improve the social level.
The court also expressed concern about the government’s intention to share data from the survey with the leaders of different parties in the state assembly. “There definitely arises the larger question of the right to privacy, which the Supreme Court has held to be a facet of the right to life,” it said.
The first round of caste survey in Bihar was conducted between January 7 and 21. The second round started on April 15 and was supposed to continue until May 15. Soon after the High Court order, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed annoyance over the opposition to the headcount of castes being conducted by his government in the State.
Kumar who said he had ordered the survey after repeated requests to the Centre for undertaking a headcount of all castes as part of the census were turned down, said “But I cannot understand, why people have a problem with the survey. The last time a headcount was done was way back in 1931. We certainly have a fresh estimate. After all, the census takes into account respective populations of minorities, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes every ten years,” he had said.
“Unfortunately, and for reasons hard to fathom, even the census seems to be hanging fire,” he said referring to the census that was due in 2021, but got delayed on account of the pandemic. Kumar also said the caste survey was ordered in the State after taking all political groups into confidence.
“Resolutions in favour of the caste census were passed, twice, unanimously, in both Houses of the State legislature. Representatives of all parties had joined me in making a formal request to the Prime Minister,” he recalled.
The petitions before the High Court were filed by a social outfit and some individuals, who had last month approached the Supreme Court after their request for a temporary hold on the survey was turned down. The top court, however, refused to interfere, and referred them back to the high court with directions that their petition be heard quickly.
Earlier in the morning, Kumar had defended the survey, arguing that all political parties in the state supported its implementation. The survey, which sought to collect data on both the economic status and caste of Bihar residents, has faced opposition from critics who claim it amounts to a house-to-house census, which only the central government has the authority to conduct.
This comes amid a debate over a caste census in India has intensified in recent months, as several political parties and leaders have urged the central government to count members of historically marginalised communities in the next census. The central government had rejected the demand for a caste census, saying it was against its policy and that it would lead to social fragmentation and caste enmities.
Kumar, the state’s longest-serving CM, had state earlier, “The petitioners as well as the government have made their respective submissions. Now we are looking forward to the verdict.” Kumar said the caste survey was ordered in the state after taking all political groups into confidence.
“Resolutions in favour of the caste census were passed, twice, unanimously, in both Houses of the state legislature. Representatives of all parties had joined me in making a formal request to the prime minister,” he recalled.
“After they (the Centre) declined, we decided to undertake an exercise limited to the state. That decision, too, was taken at a meeting where representatives of all the nine political parties, which have members in the legislature, were present,” said Kumar. He reiterated that the exercise, once complete, would be “beneficial to all” and claimed that barring a few exceptions, “all people in the state were in favour.”
Following the verdict, Bihar Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav said, “The caste-based census is for the welfare of the people as we want to eradicate poverty. One thing is clear, it is bound to happen.”
