Why did you publish caste survey data, SC asks Bihar govt, refuses to interfere with exercise for now

Senior Advocate Shyam Divan, appearing for the state, said it was because “Your Lordships had made it clear that first and foremost the court will decide whether or not to issue notice in this case”.

The bench, also comprising Justice S V N Bhatti, did not pass any restraining order but said it would examine whether the state government had the competence to do the survey. “We are not staying anything at this moment. Let them file counter,” said Justice Khanna.

He added, “We cannot stop the state government or any government from taking decisions. That will be wrong. Yes, if there is an issue with regard to the data, that will be considered. We are going to examine the other issue with regard to the right of the state government to do it.”

The court is seized of appeals challenging the August 2, 2023 ruling of the Patna High Court upholding the state’s decision to conduct the survey.

Senior Advocate Aparajitha Singh, appearing for some of the appellants, said, “This data should not be acted upon as it was collected illegally…The HC has given a detailed judgment. But it is wrong on every point of law. The data has not been collected under law as laid down by this court. Even the executive order does not have a legitimate aim as laid down in the K S Puttaswamy judgment. The legitimate aim comes in the counter which says that we will decide the objective because otherwise we can’t collect data totally. That is the answer given. So there is no legitimate aim.”

She added that the state had pre-empted the court. “We were arguing stay”.

Justice Khanna however said, “No. They said there will be multiple examinations. But the question normally which comes out is should the breakdown of complete data for transparency be made available. But whether we should go into that question or leave it to somebody else…,”.

Singh also pointed out that “the most important thing which we are talking about is informational privacy”. But Justice Khanna said the question of privacy may not arise “because names etc are not being published”.

The petitions have contended that as per the nine-judge bench’s verdict in the 2017 privacy case (K S Puttaswamy vs Union of India), even the collection of data cannot be done without a law to back it as it would amount to an encroachment into privacy. The survey, however, was carried out on the basis of an executive order, they pointed out.

Singh expressed the apprehension that the state will publish the data by the next date and say the same thing. She argued that “our only issue is data is collected unlawfully and cannot be acted upon”.

Justice Khanna responded, “You will be in some difficulty on that,” to which Singh said, “But I didn’t even get to argue that.”

“We read the judgment and we have formed a prima face view. Of course subject to change,” Justice Khanna said. The court will hear the matter again in January 2024.