New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday said that it cannot restrain the Bihar government from publishing the data or findings collected under the Bihar Caste Census. The top court said that unless there is a prima facie case of violation of any constitutional right on the part of the state government or lack of competence on its part, we cannot stop it from publishing the data. According to a Hindustan Times report, a group of petitioners has challenged the August 1 decision of the Patna High Court in the apex court. The Patna High Court in its order had given permission to the Bihar government to complete the caste survey.
In a petition filed in the Supreme Court, a group of petitioners termed the publication of the caste survey as a violation of the right to privacy. The Supreme Court asked the petitioners what is the violation of privacy in asking people to disclose their caste. The petitioners argued that the practice was clearly in violation of the apex court’s 9-judge judgment in the privacy case, which held that the state cannot encroach on the privacy of individuals without the backing of a law.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, heading a two-judge bench, asked, ‘In a state like Bihar, neighbors know about each other’s caste…Which of these 17 questions (questions asked in the survey form) Privacy attacks? This exercise is being done after an executive order.
A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and SVN Bhatti, while hearing several petitions challenging the August 1 Patna High Court judgment, remarked, ‘Unless there is a prima facie case of violation, we will not stop anything… Some legal issues are those that can be debated. This process has been completed and the decision of the High Court has come in his favor. As soon as the matter was taken up, senior advocate Aparajita Singh, appearing for one of the petitioners, requested the bench to stay the publication of the survey till the court takes a final decision on the matter. He said that ‘all the data has already been uploaded. We are requesting the court to stop the publication of the survey.
But the bench said, ‘Please, argue the matter. We are not stopping anything without listening to the parties. We will hear you on the prima facie case and ask them to rebut. If you can make a prima facie satisfactory case, we will pass an order accordingly, but we are not going to pass any order now.’ The caste survey in Bihar was started last year and supported by all parties. However, it was led by the ruling Janata Dal (United) and the Rashtriya Janata Dal. In the past few months, several opposition parties, including the Congress, have reiterated their demand for a pan-India caste survey. During the Karnataka elections, Rahul Gandhi had given the slogan ‘The more population, the more rights’ and said that if Congress comes to power at the Centre, it will conduct a nationwide caste census. State Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had called the caste survey necessary and mandatory to further the cause of social justice.
