Judiciary cannot direct government to conduct caste based census, rules Supreme Court

The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that the judiciary cannot direct the government to conduct census in a particular manner and that would amount to “colossal transgression” of the power of judicial review..In the process, the apex court overruled the Madras High Court (High Court) judgment in which the High Court had directed the Central government to conduct a caste based census..The judgment was delivered by a three judge Bench presided by Justice Dipak Misra and comprising Justices Rohinton Fali Nariman and UU Lalit..The matter relates to a PIL filed by one R Krishnamurthy in the High Court seeking caste based census. The High Court had, earlier, in another petition directed the Centre to conduct caste based census as caste census was limited to collecting information about Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes alone and not any other caste. Relying on that earlier judgment, the Court disposed of Krishnamurthy’s petition directing caste based census to be conducted..The government appealed to the Supreme Court against that judgment..The Court categorically ruled that issuing a mandamus directing the State to conduct census in a particular manner would be in excess of its power of judicial review:.“It is evincible that the said direction has been issued without any deliberation and being oblivious of the principle that the courts on very rare occasion, in exercise of powers of judicial review, would interfere with a policy decision. Interference with the policy decision and issue of a mandamus to frame a policy in a particular manner are absolutely different. The Act has conferred power on the Central Government to issue Notification regarding the manner in which the census has to be carried out and the Central Government has issued Notifications, and the competent authority has issued directions. It is not within the domain of the Court to legislate. The courts do interpret the law and in such interpretation certain creative process is involved.….But, the courts are not to plunge into policy making by adding something to the policy by way of issuing a writ of mandamus. There the judicial restraint is called for…”.The Court, therefore set aside the judgement of the High Court and held that,.“The order is exceptionally cryptical. That apart, it is legally wholly unsustainable. The High Court, to say the least, had no justification to pave such a path and we have no hesitation in treating the said path as a colossal transgression of power of judicial review, and that makes the order sensitively susceptible.”.Read the full judgment below: