The Crossbill News Desk
The Supreme Court on Monday (February 2) declined to examine judicially the manner in which caste enumeration is proposed to be carried out in the 2027 national census, but asked the Union government and the Census Operations Directorate to consider concerns raised about the reliance on self-declaration without any verifiable mechanism.
The direction came while a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Akash Goel.
The petitioner had questioned the proposed methodology for caste enumeration, arguing that collecting caste data solely on the basis of self-declaration could lead to inaccuracies.
While acknowledging the concerns raised, the bench observed that the issue fell within the domain of the executive under the Census Act, 1958. Describing the matter as one requiring administrative consideration rather than judicial intervention, the court said that the petitioner had raised a “relevant issue”.
During the hearing, counsel for Goel clarified that there was no objection to conducting a caste census per se, but emphasised that it should not rest entirely on self-declaration.
The court noted this submission and said, “There is no reason to doubt that the respondent authorities, with the aid and assistance of the domain experts, must have evolved a robust mechanism in order to rule out a mistake, as apprehended by the petitioner for several like minded persons. Nevertheless, the petitioner has flagged some relevant issues,” as reported by Live Law.
In its order, the bench also recorded the petitioner’s grievance that no guidelines, questionnaire or transparent methodology had so far been placed in the public domain regarding the recording and enumeration of caste data.
Disposing of the writ petition, the court directed the Union government and the Census Operations Directorate to consider the suggestions and concerns raised by the petitioner.
It further said that Goel was at liberty to forward a copy of the petition to the authorities as a supplementary representation for their consideration.
The direction came while a bench headed by Chief Justice of India Surya Kant and comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi was hearing a public interest litigation filed by Akash Goel.
The petitioner had questioned the proposed methodology for caste enumeration, arguing that collecting caste data solely on the basis of self-declaration could lead to inaccuracies.
While acknowledging the concerns raised, the bench observed that the issue fell within the domain of the executive under the Census Act, 1958. Describing the matter as one requiring administrative consideration rather than judicial intervention, the court said that the petitioner had raised a “relevant issue”.
During the hearing, counsel for Goel clarified that there was no objection to conducting a caste census per se, but emphasised that it should not rest entirely on self-declaration.
The court noted this submission and said, “There is no reason to doubt that the respondent authorities, with the aid and assistance of the domain experts, must have evolved a robust mechanism in order to rule out a mistake, as apprehended by the petitioner for several like minded persons. Nevertheless, the petitioner has flagged some relevant issues,” as reported by Live Law.
In its order, the bench also recorded the petitioner’s grievance that no guidelines, questionnaire or transparent methodology had so far been placed in the public domain regarding the recording and enumeration of caste data.
Disposing of the writ petition, the court directed the Union government and the Census Operations Directorate to consider the suggestions and concerns raised by the petitioner.
It further said that Goel was at liberty to forward a copy of the petition to the authorities as a supplementary representation for their consideration.
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