Patna HC stays caste survey in Bihar

In a major setback to the Nitish government, the Patna High court on Thursday ordered a stay on the caste-based census in Bihar with immediate effect.

Hearing a clutch of petitions, a division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad directed the government to immediately stop the caste-based survey, and ensure that the data already collected are secured and not shared with anybody till final orders are passed.

The court fixed July 7 as the next date for the hearing.

"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.

Expressing concern, the court noted 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 right to life," it said.

The Bihar government launched its much-hyped caste-based census in January this year and had aimed at compiling data on each family in a two-phase process.

However, several petitioners had put forth arguments to prove caste enumeration as unconstitutional, whereas the government side called it a necessity.

Notably, the petition before the high court has been filed by a social outfit and some individuals, who had last month moved the Supreme Court after their request for an 'interim relief' in the form of a stay on the survey was turned down.

The apex court, too, refused to interfere, and referred them back to the high court with directions that their petition be decided expeditiously.

Caste-based count has been a major issue in Bihar politics, with Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and all constituents of the 'Mahagathbandhan' long been demanding that the exercise be undertaken at the earliest. The Congress-led UPA government at the Centre had agreed to conduct the exercise at the national level in 2010, but the data collected during the census were never processed.

The state government embarked on the exercise in the wake of the Centre expressing its inability to undertake caste-based enumeration other than the SCs and STs. It has been the contention of Nitish Kumar, himself an OBC, and the RJD, which emerged in the thick of the Mandal era, a fresh estimate of various social groups was essential since the last caste census held in 1931.

with PTI inputs