SC to hear plea against Bihar caste census on Jan 13

The plea, which has been drawn by advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, argued that the move was also against the basic structure of the Constitution, besides being "illegal, arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory and unconstitutional".

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday agreed to hear the Public Interest Litigation (PIL) seeking to quash the Bihar government's decision to conduct a caste survey in the state. The matter was mentioned before a bench headed by CJI DY Chandrachud and comprising Justice PS Narasimha, who allowed a plea for a listing of the matter on Friday, January 13.

The petition has been filed by one Akhilesh Kumar, a social worker from Nalanda, contending that this decision fell under the domain of the Union government. The plea sought quashing of the notification issued by the deputy secretary, Government of Bihar, in connection with the caste survey and to refrain the authorities concerned from conducting the exercise. It added that there is no provision in the Constitution regarding caste configuration.

The plea, which has been drawn by advocate Barun Kumar Sinha, argued that the move was also against the basic structure of the Constitution, besides being "illegal, arbitrary, irrational, discriminatory and unconstitutional".

The petitioner contended that as per Section 3 of the Census Act, 1948, the central government is empowered to take a census in any territory or part of the territory in India and not the state governments. "In a state governed by rule of law, executive orders must get basis and genesis from the law. The impugned notification for caste census in the state of Bihar lacks statutory flavor and unconstitutional sanction," read the plea.

"Political parties whether in government or out of government are under a legal obligation to refrain from indulging in caste politics. Admittedly the impugned notification is the outcome of the decision of the meeting of the political parties who have members in the legislative assembly and therefore, they are not expected to divide the society into caste lines which is against National integration," read the plea. The petitioner further argued that the notification "accords differential treatment without intelligible differentia to the illegal decision of the state of Bihar".

The plea further claimed that the notification dated June 6, 2022, violated Article 14 of the Constitution, which provides for equality before the law and equal protection of the law.

"The state government by executive orders cannot conduct caste census in the absence of legislation on the subject. The impugned notification for caste census in the State of Bihar lacks statutory flavor and constitutional sanction," it said.