Supreme Court Dismisses Plea Against Caste Enumeration In Census

way2barak, May 21: The Supreme Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the Union Government’s decision to undertake caste enumeration as part of the upcoming Census, observing that the government must know the number of persons belonging to backward castes to frame welfare measures. A bench comprising Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi and Justice Vipul Pancholi was hearing a PIL filed by one Sudhakar Gummula, who appeared in person.

The Petitioner-in-person argued that the collection of caste data could be susceptible to misuse, particularly if such information were to fall into the hands of corporate entities and politicians. According to him, there was no justification to collect caste data. Rejecting the contention, the CJI said, “These are all policy matters, whether census should be caste-based or not. What is wrong with it? Any day’s Government must know how many people are backward class, what kind of welfare measures are to be taken for them. It is within the policy domain.”