A petition was moved in the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the Patna High Court judgment upholding the caste survey ordered by the Bihar government.
The petition has been moved by Akhilesh Kumar through advocate Tanya Shree. He has challenged the Patna HC order which had dismissed a batch of PILs (Public Interest Litigations) challenging the validity of the Bihar caste survey. The order was delivered on August 1.
The petitioner said that Patna HC has erroneously dismissed the said writ petition without taking into consideration the fact that the state of Bihar lacked the competence to notify caste-based survey vide notification dated June 6, 2022, ANI reported.
The high court had termed the state government’s initiative perfectly valid and legally competent and paved the way for the stalled exercise to resume after almost three months.
“Apart from national security details, the state may have justifiable reasons for the collection and storage of data. In a social welfare state, the government embarks upon programmes that provide benefits to impoverished and marginalised sections of society. There is a vital state interest in ensuring that scarce public resources are not dissipated by the diversion of resources to persons who do not qualify as recipients,” the high court had said.
In a separate move, the Bihar government had already filed a caveat in the Supreme Court.
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A caveat means that no order can be issued against the other party without hearing them first and is usually done when a party anticipates that someone will go to court against them.
With the stay vacated, the second phase of the survey will be carried out in full swing, where data related to castes, sub-castes, and religions of all people is to be collected.
The decision of a caste survey was taken by the Bihar cabinet last year.