Patna HC Upholds Caste-Based Survey in Bihar, Dismisses Petitions Against It

The Bihar government had launched the exercise in January & had aimed at compiling the data in a two-phase process

(Photo: Altered by Chetan Bhakuni/The Quint)

The Patna High Court on Tuesday, 1 August, dismissed a bunch of petitions challenging the Bihar Government's decision to conduct a caste-based survey in the state.

In doing so, the High Court has set the path for the survey.

The process: 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. The entire exercise was scheduled to end by May 2023.

The interim stay: But several petitions were filed against the move and the High Court had put an interim stay on the survey on 4 May.

"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", the High Court had said, according to LiveLaw.

In the Supreme Court: Following this, the Bihar government had moved the Supreme Court against the interim stay. A two-judge bench of the top court, however, had refused to interfere since the High Court was slated to take it up on 3 July anyway.

A Patna High Court bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy then continued hearing the pleas and reserved its verdict on 7 July.

Where this comes from: 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.