The Bihar government may take the legislative route to complete its caste-based survey of the State “at any cost”, State Finance Minister Vijay Kumar Chaudhary said on Friday. His statement comes against the backdrop of the Patna High Court’s interim stay on the ongoing survey on May 4, and its rejection of the government’s plea for an early hearing of the case.
“If necessary, we could make a law in the Bihar Legislative Assembly to complete the caste-based survey in the State,” said Mr. Chaudhary, who is also the Minister for Parliamentary Affairs in Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s cabinet.
In its interim order, the High Court had asked whether conducting the caste-based survey was a unanimous decision by every political party, and if so, then why the State government had not passed a law before conducting it.
“So, if the Supreme Court’s decision would not come in our favour, we would pass a law in Bihar legislative assembly and then complete the survey,” added Mr. Chaudhary.
Special Assembly session
Sources in the ruling Janata Dal (United) also told The Hindu that “the mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) government of seven parties in the State have mulled to call a special session of the State Legislative Assembly soon to pass the law in favour of the caste survey to complete it.
“After the interim order of the Patna HC, we’re looking for the legal option to complete the survey,” Mr. Chaudhary said. “Our government and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar are firm on caste-based survey. We’ve filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking early hearing of the case and are hopeful that a decision would come in our favour,” the Minister added.
The first phase of the survey was completed in January 2023; it is the second phase which was to end on May 31 which has been stalled by the court’s interim order. The court has fixed the next date of hearing on July 3.
‘No threat to privacy’
When asked about the concern that the survey posed a threat to privacy, Mr. Chaudhary said, “Some people are misleading the masses that caste-based survey may breach their privacy. There is no such threat through the caste-based survey... We have documents pertaining to it which are being preserved safely.” In its interim order, the High Court had asked the State government to safely store the data collected during the caste-based survey so far.
The Opposition BJP had put the State government in the dock after the interim order, saying that “the government has not done its homework properly to conduct the survey.”
The buzz in some political circles in the State is that the court’s stay on the CM’s ambitious project was a “huge embarrassment” to the government and to Mr. Kumar as well. “These days, whatever decision Mr. Kumar is taking, it gets boomeranged to him, be it the stringent provisions of liquor laws or the recent caste-based survey in the State. It seems his government lacks foresight in executing his decisions,” political analyst Ajay Kumar told The Hindu.
