SC dismisses PIL seeking caste-based census

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a public interest litigation (PIL) seeking a direction to the Centre to conduct a caste-based census for the “welfare of backward and other marginalised sections” in the country.

“We are not issuing a notice here. These all (issues) are in the domain of policy. Whether it is to be conducted now or after six months, these all are essentially the domain of governance,” remarked a bench headed by Justice Hrishikesh Roy.

“We will dismiss this petition. The issues raised are in the domain of policy, if you want to withdraw, withdraw it. Otherwise, we will pass a dismissal order,” added the Bench, also comprising Justice SVN Bhatti.

Ultimately, the petitioner’s counsel, who initially submitted that an identical matter is coming up for hearing on September 9 before the apex court, chose to withdraw the PIL.

The plea demanded expeditious enumeration of data for the 2024 census and a Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC) for the implementation of welfare measures.

An SECC would help identify disadvantaged groups, ensure equitable resource distribution and monitor the implementation of targeted policies, said the PIL, adding that accurate data on backward and other marginalised sections is crucial for the Union government to achieve social justice and constitutional objectives.

Further, the petition said that a data-driven approach is essential for informed policy-making, and precise data aids in understanding socio-economic conditions and demographics, enabling targeted interventions to uplift disadvantaged communities.

“For the first time in post-independence, the SECC conducted in 2011 aimed to gather comprehensive data on socio-economic indicators, including caste information. However, concerns over the quality of data and classification challenges have prevented the release and effective utilisation of the raw caste data. An Expert Group was formed to classify and categorise this data, but its recommendations have yet to be released by the Union Government,” said the PIL, filed through advocate Shravan Kumar Karajan.

It added that Article 340 of the Constitution mandates the appointment of a commission to investigate socially and educationally backward classes.

“Respondents (authorities) have not conducted the enumeration for Census-2021 to date. Initially, it was not done due to the Covid-19 pandemic and subsequently, it has been postponed time and again. The enumeration of the Census of the Country for 2021 was initiated in April 2019. But it was not concluded till date,” stated the plea, adding that the delay in the census has resulted in a “major data gap” as the last census was conducted 13 years ago in 2011.

The PIL said that the census is not just a population growth tracker but also provides comprehensive socio-economic data of the people of the country that can be used in policy-making, economic planning and various administrative purposes.

IANS