Chief Minister Nitish Kumar secured significant relief on August 1 after the Patna High Court dismissed all petitions filed against the decision of the Bihar Government to conduct a caste-based survey. A Division Bench of Chief Justice K.V. Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy upheld the caste-based survey and allowed the State government to continue with the survey.
The court said in its order: “We find the action of the State to be perfectly valid, initiated with due competence, with the legitimate aim of providing ‘Development with Justice,’ as proclaimed in the address of both Houses and the actual survey to have neither exercised nor contemplated any coercion to divulge the details and having passed the test of proportionality, thus not having violated the rights of privacy of the individual especially since it is in the furtherance of a ‘compelling public interest’ which in effect is the ‘legitimate State interest’.”
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On May 4, the High Court had issued an interim stay on the ongoing caste-based survey. Following the stay order, the State government filed a petition seeking early hearing of the case. However, the court on May 9 had rejected the petition filed by the State government, challenging the caste enumeration and economic survey in the State for hearing by the court before July 3. Later, the State government approached the Supreme Court to lift the stay, but the Supreme Court refused.
From July 3 to July 7, a continuous hearing was held by the Bench of Chief Justice K.V. Chandran, and the verdict was reserved for August 1. Earlier, Chief Justice Chandran had directed the State government to not share or use the data collected during this period.
The first phase of the survey, which involved a house listing exercise, was carried out from January 7 to January 12. The Bihar Government was in the middle of conducting the second phase of the caste-based survey, which had begun on April 15 and was to be completed by May 15. In its interim order, the court had said that the Executive did not have the jurisdiction to conduct caste-based surveys. Earlier, the court had also said that the privacy of the public had been violated by the caste-based survey.
The petitioners’ advocate Dinu Kumar said that they would approach the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court’s verdict.
“We have not seen the copy of the judgment, so [we are] unable to speak much on the issue. We want to know why the court dismissed the petition. Earlier, the court had put a stay on the survey, emphasising that the State does not have the right to conduct any caste survey,” Mr. Kumar said.
Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) leader and Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar Tejashwi Prasad Yadav welcomed the court’s verdict.
In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Mr. Yadav said: “Authentic, reliable and scientific data will be obtained from our government’s caste-based survey. The most backward, backward, and the poor of all sections will get maximum benefit from this. Caste census will be a huge revolutionary step in the direction of economic justice. Our demand is that the Central government should get the caste census done. Why don’t the majority backward and poor populations of the country, who are boasting of being OBC (Other Backward Class) Prime Minister, want caste enumeration to be done?”
Janata Dal (United) national president Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lalan Singh echoed a similar sentiment. “The Honourable High Court has rejected the petition against caste enumeration. It is welcome. The conspiracy by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to stop the caste enumeration failed and the way for the caste enumeration is paved. Caste enumeration is in the interest of the State and it should be done across the country.”
The Leader of the Opposition in the Bihar Legislative Assembly, Vijay Kumar Sinha of the BJP, said that the ruling RJD and JD(U) had a changeable stand. “The Bihar Government is welcoming the Patna High Court order but when the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation), ED (Enforcement Directorate) and Income Tax [Department] take action, then questions are raised on it. These people do not have faith in the constitutional institutions. These are the people who believe in monarchy and dynasty. When the pressure on the property earned through corruption increases, then there is restlessness. Crime is at its peak in Bihar and the government is busy with the caste census. What is the need for this?” Mr. Sinha asked.
Political observers in the State estimate that the caste-based survey is going to be a major political issue in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls next year as it will be one of the strongest political tools for ruling parties in States where the BJP is in the opposition, with the latter having a difficult time mounting an offensive on the issue.
