Patna HC dismisses petitions challenging Bihar govt's caste-based survey

Patna High Court on Tuesday rejected all petitions challenging the caste-based survey by Bihar government.

The survey was planned to be carried out in two phases, with the first phase involving a household counting exercise conducted in January. The second phase, which commenced on April 15, aimed to gather data on people's caste and socio-economic conditions. 

According to the initial plans, the survey was supposed to be completed by the month of May. However, on May 4, the High Court had issued a stay order on the caste census following three petitions seeking a halt to the survey. 

The bench, comprising Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad, observed that the survey appeared to be more like a census, which, according to the court, falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Central government.

"We find that the caste-based survey is a census in the garb of a survey; the power to carry out which is exclusively on the Union Parliament which has also enacted a Census Act, 1948," the court said in May.

In response to the High Court's stay, the Bihar government approached the Supreme Court seeking its removal. However, Supreme Court refused to lift the stay.

Subsequently, the matter was brought back to the Patna High Court, which has now dismissed the challenge against the caste-based survey on Tuesday.

(Inputs by Rohit Singh)

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