Supreme Court On Petitions Against Bihar Caste Survey

A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath listening to the petition.

Patna:

The Supreme Court today refused to settle the claims against the caste survey in Bihar. Calling it a “public interest case,” the court questioned why the petitioners did not go to Patna Supreme Court on the matter. Three lawsuits have been filed in the Supreme Court against class counts – one by an organization called Ek Soch Ek Prayas, the right-wing Hindu Sena, and a Bihar resident named Akhilesh Kumar.

“So this is a lawsuit in the public interest. How can we give guidance on how much reservation should be granted to such a class. Sorry, we can’t give that. such guidance and cannot deal with these petitions,” benches consisting of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath, told lawyers for the petitioners.

Notably, this issue was heard in the Supreme Court of Patna when the petitioner’s argument that the state was conducting a census based on caste was dismissed on the grounds of principal notice. Knowledge of the matter says it’s a caste-based ‘survey’.

Bihar Minister Nitish Kumar welcomed the court’s decision. “Some people tried to stop it. They were proven wrong,” he said.

The Hindu Sena has said in its petition that the Bihar government wants to “break the unity and integrity of India” by conducting a census.

There has been a request to cancel the notice issued by the state government on June 6 for the caste survey in Bihar.

Akhilesh Kumar’s petition says the formal announcement and process are “illegal, arbitrary, unconstitutional, unconstitutional and without the authority of law”.

“The Constitution of India prohibits discrimination on the basis of race and caste. The state has a constitutional obligation to eliminate caste and racial strife,” the petition reads.

The petition also questions whether the Indian Constitution gives state governments the power to conduct censuses on a caste basis.

Seven questions were raised in this petition before the Supreme Court.

1. Did the Bihar government act to conduct the census in violation of the basic structure of the constitution?
2. Does the Indian constitution give the state government the power to conduct a census?
3. Is the notice issued by the Deputy Secretary of the Government of Bihar on 6 June against the Census Act 1948?
4. Is a caste investigative notice, in the absence of a law, legally valid?
5. Was the state government’s decision to conduct a caste census supported by all political parties?
6. Is the decision of political parties on the census binding on the government for Bihar?
7. Is the announcement of the Bihar government on June 6 against the Supreme Court’s constitutional bench decision in the Abhiram Singh case?

On January 11, the highest court said it would settle the matter on January 20, after one of the petitioners mentioned an urgent listing on the matter.