Patna High Court Thumbs Up for Bihar Govt, Caste-Based Census to be Continue

The Patna High Court on Tuesday upheld the caste-based survey being conducted by the State of Bihar.

A bench comprising Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy passed the verdict in response to several petitions challenging the caste-based survey.

The survey was planned to be executed in two phases. The first phase, involving a household counting exercise, was carried out by the State government in January, 2023. The second phase, which began on April 15, aimed to collect data related to people’s caste and socio-economic conditions.

The entire process was scheduled to be completed by May this year. However, on May 4, the High Court stayed the caste census following orders from a Bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad.

The stay was issued based on three petitions seeking a halt to the survey. The court found that the caste-based survey was, in reality, functioning as a census, a function exclusively within the purview of the Union Parliament, which has also enacted a Census Act, 1948.

Subsequently, the Bihar government appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order staying the caste-based survey. However, the top court refused to lift the stay.

The matter was then brought back to the High Court, which ultimately dismissed the challenge today.