Centre terms Census a statutory process under Census Act, which can only be conducted by Union government

The Central government has said in the Supreme Court that Census being a statutory process under the Census Act, 1948, only the Union of India had the right to conduct the exercise.

The Centre made the submission by way of an affidavit on Monday on a batch of appeals challenging the caste-based survey undertaken by the Bihar government.

Submitted by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) on behalf of the Office of the Registrar General, which comes under the Union Ministry, the affidavit contended that the subject of census fell under the Union List as per Entry 69 in the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution.

Several petitions have been filed in the top court of the country against the Patna High Court verdict of August 1, which upheld the constitutional validity of the caste survey currently underway in Bihar, calling it ‘perfectly valid’.

Earlier on August 18, the Apex Court had contemplated over the question whether the right to privacy under Article 21 of the Constitution would be affected by the caste-based survey undertaken by the State of Bihar since only cumulative data, and not personal data relating to each participant, was to be released by the state government. 

The Bench of Justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice S.V.N. Bhatti noted that in Bihar, most people were aware of the caste of persons living in the neighbourhood, which might not be the case in a metropolitan city like Delhi.

Taking in view the Patna High Court verdict, which upheld the survey, besides the fact that the exercise has already been completed by the state government, the Apex Court had refused to order any stay on August 18 and listed the matter for further hearing. 

The top court of the country had passed the orders on a petition filed by non-governmental organisations Youth for Equality and Ek Soch Ek Prayas against the Patna High Court verdict, which upheld the Bihar government’s caste-based survey. 

On August 1, the High Court of Patna, while asserting that the caste-based survey being undertaken by the state of Bihar was totally legal and valid, dismissed all the petitions questioning the validity of the process.

The order was passed by the Bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Partha Sarthy on three petitions seeking a stay on the survey being conducted by the state government on the basis of caste.

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