Karnataka high court refuses to stay caste survey, but with a caveat
However, the Karnataka high court ordered the authorities not to disclose any data obtained from participants in the caste survey process.
The Karnataka high court on Thursday declined pleas to interfere with the socio-economic survey, popularly known as the caste survey, conducted by the state government.
However, the court ordered the authorities not to disclose any data obtained from participants in the process and to notify participants that their participation was voluntary.
“In view of the above, we do not find to interdict the ongoing survey. However, we state that data collected shall not be disclosed to any person. The Commission shall ensure that data is fully protected and kept confidential. We further direct the Commission to issue a public notification that clarifying in this survey is voluntary and no person is obligated to disclose any information, and info disclosed is voluntary," Livelaw quoted a division bench of chief justice Vibhu Bakhru and justice CM Joshi as saying.
The bench also said that the information about the disclosure in the survey being voluntary will need to be given at the threshold stage.
“This information would be necessarily have to be informed at threshold stage by enumerators. If a participant declines to participate, enumerators will not take any further steps to persuade or cajole participants to divulge any information. Commission shall file an affidavit within one working day clearly disclosing steps taken for the confidentiality of data collected and stored,” the bench stated.
How the Karnataka government defended the caste survey
The Karnataka government on Tuesday told the high court that the Union government was “speaking in two voices” as it defended the ongoing caste survey that has drawn criticism from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
The state told the high court that while the Centre itself “piloted the 105th Constitutional Amendment Act, 2021” to restore the power of state governments to identify and list backward classes, it was now opposing the survey solely because Karnataka was under a different political dispensation.
“Having brought about this amendment, the Centre now conveniently supports the petitioners simply because a different political party is in power in the state,” senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, who appeared for the Karnataka government, told the court.
Singhvi reiterated before a bench of chief justice Vibhu Bakhru and justice CM Joshi that the exercise was not a “caste census” but a socio-economic and educational survey, well within the state’s legislative competence.
Citing the Supreme Court’s 1992 judgement in the case of Indra Sawhney vs Union of India, Singhvi argued that welfare measures under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution require fresh empirical data to avoid arbitrariness, and states cannot be denied the power to gather such information.
The Karnataka government commenced the mammoth caste survey on September 22 to address complaints from several communities that alleged they were either excluded or underrepresented in the controversial 2015 exercise. This followed a fierce slugfest among political parties and community leaders.
The exercise is expected to conclude by October 7.
