Supreme Court Sets Hearing Date for Bihar Caste Survey Appeals, Declines Stay on Publication

New Delhi, August 14, 2023: The Supreme Court has scheduled a hearing for all petitions challenging the Patna High Court’s August 1 verdict allowing the Bihar caste survey on August 18. The Court, however, declined a request to halt the publication of the survey until the hearing.

A non-governmental organization, Ek Soch Ek Prayas, had an appeal listed before the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti on Monday. The court was informed that there were additional petitions, including one by Youth for Equality, which had not been listed. The bench decided to hear all these petitions related to the caste survey on August 18.

Senior lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, representing Youth for Equality, urged the court to prevent Bihar from publishing the survey. The bench rejected the request, stating, “That will amount to an indirect stay without hearing the other side. Wait till August 18, we will hear you that day.”

The Patna high court had initially halted the second round of the caste survey, scheduled from April 15 to May 15. The high court’s restriction was lifted upon its August 1 verdict, which dismissed writ petitions by Youth for Equality that claimed the survey violated the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution.

The high court deemed the Bihar government’s decision to conduct the survey as “perfectly valid” and in line with the aim of providing development with justice. The high court emphasized that the Centre’s policy decision not to conduct a caste-based enumeration did not preclude states from undertaking such surveys for data collection.

The Bihar government ordered the caste survey after the Centre declined its request for a headcount of social groups beyond SCs, STs, and religious minorities as part of the Census. The survey aims to advocate for more reservation for backward classes based on their population share. This legal endorsement of the survey might trigger similar demands in other states.