Patna: Giving a shock to Nitish Kumar-led government, Patna High Court on Thursday put a stay on the caste census. In an interim order while hearing the petitions filed against the caste Census a bench of Patna High Court Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad gave its verdict after completion of arguments on the matter.
The next hearing in the matter will be on July 3, till then there will be a stay on the process caste census. However, the court said that data that has been collected so far will be kept secure.
The second and last phase of caste-based census is going on in Bihar. Now the clouds of crisis have loomed over the ambitious project of Nitish Kumar.
During the debate on the petitions filed against caste enumeration, the government said that the state has the right to conduct the census, 17 questions are being asked so that economically backward can be identified.
“No one’s privacy is being violated through it. Only a few people are opposing it, Everyone else is openly telling their caste and answering questions,” the government said in the court.
The petitioners argued in the court that the Nitish government did not mention anywhere why the caste enumeration was being done. For this, 1500 crore rupees are being spent from the emergency fund, while it is mandatory to follow the legal process to withdraw money from it. In response to this, Advocate General PK Shahi said that the proposal for caste census was passed unanimously by both Houses. Also, the state cabinet has made a budget provision for this, not a single penny is being spent from the emergency fund.
