SC dismisses PIL challenging caste data recording in 2027 Census
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to entertain a public interest litigation questioning the procedure proposed for recording, classifying and verifying caste data in the 2027 national Census. However, the court asked the Centre and the office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner of India to consider the suggestions made by the petitioner on the issue.
The PIL was filed by academician Aakash Goel, who was represented by senior advocate Mukta Gupta. The petitioner argued that a transparent questionnaire to be used for recording, classifying and verifying citizens’ caste details should be placed in the public domain.
Goel alleged that the Directorate of Census Operations had not disclosed the criteria for recording caste identity, despite acknowledging that caste enumeration this time would extend beyond the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The bench observed that there was “no pre-determined data” available to identify caste details. It noted that the census exercise is governed by the Census Act, 1958 and the Census Rules, 1990, which empower the respondent authorities to determine the particulars and manner of conducting the census.
“We have no reason to doubt that the respondent authority, with the aid and assistance of domain experts, must have evolved a robust mechanism to rule out any mistake as apprehended by the petitioner and several like-minded persons,” the Chief Justice of India said. The bench added that the petitioner had raised some relevant issues through representations to the Registrar General of Census Operations as well.
Stating that the authorities may consider the suggestions raised in the legal notice and the petition, the court disposed of the PIL.
The 2027 Census, officially the 16th national Census, will be the first to include comprehensive caste enumeration since 1931 and will also be India’s first fully digital census.
With PTI inputs