[BREAKING] Bihar government moves Supreme Court challenging Patna High Court stay on caste census

The Bihar government moved the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging a Patna High Court order staying caste census in the State..The appeal before the top court said that the High Court erroneously examined the merits of the case at the interim stage and touched upon the legislative competence of the State."The relief and finding at interim stage is as good as final relief and the writ petition has virtually become infructuous. The State has already completed more than 80% of the Survey work in some districts...there shall be no harm in completing the exercise subject to final adjudication...the time gap to complete survey would adversely affect the survey since this would not be a contemporaneous data," the government submitted..Incidentally, the High Court had heard the pleas challenging the ongoing caste survey in Bihar specifically on the directions of the Supreme Court to consider and dispose of the interim application filed in the matter for stay.In January this year, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath had refused to entertain three public interest litigation (PIL) petitions challenging the State's decision to initiate the caste census.That bench had, however, granted liberty to the petitioners to approach the Patna High Court.The petitioners then moved the High Court which initially declined to immediately decide on interim relief. The petitioners moved the Supreme Court in appeal which then asked the High Court to dispose of the interim relief application expeditiously.Subsequently, by its order of May 4, passed by a bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad, held that the survey is actually a census, which can only be carried out by the Central government.The surveys were, therefore, put on hold by the High Court till July 3.The High Court later also clarified that the stay is not on the census itself but on further data collection as well as sharing of information with political parties.This led to the present appeal before the top court. .The appeal before the Supreme Court said that the petitioners moved the High Court 10 months after the survey began. The High Court wrongly accepted the contention that the survey was a census, and that personal information regarding the same would be shared with MLAs, the appeal contended."The collection of data at village, Block, District or State level cannot be a census as defined under the Act," the plea said.Further, the State would have to incur huge financial costs if the survey is stopped at this stage, it was submitted.