NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed the Bihar government to put in public domain the break-up and findings of the caste survey to enable aggrieved petitioners challenge the findings. While hearing petitions challenging the survey, the court upheld the Patna High Court backing the state government’s decision to conduct such an exercise.
A two-judge bench of the top court, headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna and also comprising Justice Dipankar Datta said, “Sorry, we are not inclined to pass any interim relief (to the petitioners) as they (the government) have a high court order in their favour,” the top court said and fixed the matter for further hearing to January 29. The court also clarified that it will examine the legal issue of the correctness of the high court judgement and legality of such an exercise by the state of Bihar government later on.
It was hearing the pleas field by the non-governmental organisations -- filed by Ek Soch Ek Prayas and Youth for Equality -- against the state government and the Patna High Court’s order upholding the Bihar government’s decision to conduct such an exercise with respect to caste survey. “It is not possible to stay the state (Bihar) government order at this time. There are some limitations on this side as well. We will look into your prayer,”Justice Khanna said.
According to the petitions, the Bihar government’s decision to conduct a caste survey in the state was violative and against the very basic structure of the Indian Constitution. The petitioners alleged that the notification was “discriminatory and unconstitutional”. The Centre also had entered the legal fray and filed an affidavit earlier before the Supreme Court, emphasising that the Census Act, 1948, bestows exclusive authority upon the Central Government to conduct census-related activities.
The affidavit reaffirmed the government’s commitment to uplift Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBCs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in line with constitutional provisions and applicable laws. One of the petitions, represented by advocate Tanya Shree on behalf of petitioner Akhilesh Kumar, contested the Patna High Court’s dismissal of pleas challenging the Nitish Kumar government’s decision to conduct the caste-based survey.
On October 2, 2023, the Nitish Kumar government had released the findings of the caste survey, a move its detractors claimed was made keeping in mind the 2024 Parliamentary elections. The data revealed that the OBCs and EBCs constituted a whopping 63 per cent of the state’s population. According to the data released, the state’s total population stood at a little over 13.07 crore, out of which the Extremely Backward Classes (36 per cent) were the largest social segment followed by the Other Backward Classes at 27.13 per cent.
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