Patna/Delhi: The Supreme Court would hear a fresh petition filed in the Bihar caste-based census case today.
A bench of CJI DY Chandrachud and Justice Narasimha will hold an urgent hearing on the day. Earlier, the petitioner told the court that the caste-based enumeration in Bihar has begun on April 15 and it will continue till May 15. On this matter, the court had agreed to an immediate hearing after considering the arguments of the petitioner. In the hearing held on 21 April, the court fixed Friday as the day for the hearing. It is for the first time that the state government is planning to conduct such an exercise to gather information on the economic social status of its population, in an apparent bid to implement social welfare schemes.
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In Bihar, the caste census would be completed in two phases through the determination of the code of 215 castes. According to the list, 22 are to be counted in Scheduled Castes, 32 in Scheduled Tribes, 30 in Backward Classes, 113 in Extremely Backward Classes and 7 in Upper Castes. Earlier, another petition was filed in the Supreme Court on January 20. The Supreme Court rejected the petition on merit. However, the court allowed the petitioner to go to the high court regarding the issue.
Regarding the caste census, the petitioner argued in court that census work by the state is against the basic structure of the constitution. His contention was that only the centre holds the right to conduct caste census. There is a talk if the caste census will be banned in Bihar. The caste census work in Bihar would cost Rs 500 crore.
