Supreme Court Refused To Hear Plea Challenging Bihar Caste Census

The Bihar government on Friday got a big relief from the Supreme Court. The Apex court refused to entertain a batch petition against caste census. A bench of Justice BR Gavai and Justice Vikram Nath asked petitioners advocate that why you did not file petition before Patna High court? It looks like this is publicity stunt petition. Will you withdraw your petition? The advocate who appeared for petitioners replied yes.  

The top court was hearing three petitions against the caste census in Bihar. Akhilesh Kumar, Hindu Sena president Vishnu Gupta and NGO “Ek Soch Ek Prayas” have filed a petition seeking cancellation of the notification issued by the state government on June 6 for caste census in Bihar.

Akhilesh Kumar, a resident of Nalanda, Bihar, has filed a petition demanding the cancellation of the notification issued by the state government on June 6. The petitioner said that that no state has the right to conduct census under the constitution. Even under the Census Act of 1948, the state government has not been given the right to conduct census, it added.

This step of the state government is going to promote social disharmony as well as the notification of caste census is against the basic spirit of the constitution, the plea added.

While citing the decision of the Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the Abhiram Singh case in 2017, the petitioner said that, in this decision, the Supreme Court had said that seeking votes on caste and communal grounds is wrong, but for political reasons in Bihar Efforts are being made to divide the society on the basis of caste, the plea said.