No SC stay on Bihar caste survey

economictimes.indiatimes.com:

Supreme Court has refused to order status quo on the caste survey in Bihar. Appeals challenging the Patna high court order, which upheld the exercise, will be taken up on August 14. A bench headed by Justice Sanjiv Khanna turned down a request made by petitioners' counsel that sought ordering of status quo on the survey until the next date of hearing.

There is no question of granting status quo especially since no notice has been issued on the appeals, the bench said. HC had last week found no illegality in the state's decision to undertake a caste survey. The actual survey does not contemplate any coercion to divulge details and passed test of proportionality, HC ruled.

The survey did not violate individual's right to privacy since it was in furtherance of a compelling public interest and legitimate state interest, the bench had said. The first phase of the survey, under which a household counting exercise was taken up, was conducted in January. The second phase started on April 15, focusing on gathering data related to people's caste and socio-economic conditions.

The process was scheduled to be completed by May but a single bench of the HC stayed the survey describing it as a census. The decision was challenged by the Bihar government in the Supreme Court which asked the state to approach a division bench of HC. SC had then refused to vacate the stay given by the single bench.