New Delhi: Within hours of filing its response, on a batch of petitions challenging the Patna High Court's order which upheld the Bihar government's decision to conduct a contentious caste census in the state, the Centre on Monday filed a fresh affidavit and withdrew its previous one saying that "inadvertently a paragraph had crept into the affidavit" filed in the Supreme Court.
In the new affidavit, the Centre said census is a statutory process and is governed by the Census Act, 1948. The Office of Registrar General, Ministry of Home Affairs, in the new affidavit, said, “It is submitted that the Central Government has filed an Affidavit in the morning today (Wednesday). In the said affidavit, inadvertently, para 5 has crept in. The said affidavit, therefore, stands withdrawn and this present affidavit will be the affidavit on behalf of the Central Government."
Paragraph 5 of the withdrawn affidavit had said, “It is submitted that no other body under the Constitution or otherwise is entitled to conduct the exercise of either Census or any action akin to census”. The Centre’s new affidavit said the government is committed to take all affirmative actions for upliftment of SCs/STs/SEBCs and OBCs in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and the applicable law.
The affidavit added that census is a statutory process and is governed by the Census Act, 1948 and the subject of census is covered in the Union List under Entry 69 in the Seventh Schedule, and in exercise of the powers under the said Entry, the central government has made the Census Act, 1948
The affidavit said, “The said Act empowers only the Central Government to conduct the census under section 3 of the Census Act, 1948 which reads as under:- "3. Central Government to take census. The Central Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare its intention of taking a census in the whole or any part of the territories to which this Act extends, whenever it may consider it necessary or desirable so to do, and thereupon the census shall be taken."
On August 21, the Supreme Court had allowed Centre to file its response in connection with a batch of pleas challenging the Patna High Court order giving the go-ahead to the Bihar government for a caste survey. A bench comprising justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti reiterated that the court will not stay the caste survey exercise unless the petitioners make out a prima facie case against it. The apex court also allowed Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, representing the Centre, to file its response on the issue within seven days. Mehta contended that the survey could have some consequences and added, “we are not this way or that way. But this exercise may have some consequences….”.
Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, representing one of the petitioners, urged the court to restrain the state government from publishing the data. The top court said the collection of data is over now and the second is analysis of data collected during the survey, which is more difficult and problematic. The bench said, “Unless you (petitioners) are able to make out a prima facie case, we are not going to stay anything”.
The top court said the state government had assured during the last hearing that it was not going to publish the data.
Also read: ‘In Bihar, neighbours know your caste; in Delhi, we don’t know’: SC on pleas against Bihar caste survey
