Patna: The High Court on Thursday has ordered a stay on the caste-based census in Bihar. The ruling from the high court comes at a time when the Bihar government is proposing a caste census in the state and the opposition standing against it.
On Wednesday, the Patna High Court reserved its judgment and said it will pass an interim order on Thursday.
During the hearing on Wednesday, a division bench of Chief Justice KV Chandran heard the petitions filed by Akhilesh Kumar and others.
Advocates Dinu Kumar, Ritu Raj and Abhinav Srivastava on behalf of the petitioners and advocate General PK Shahi on behalf of the State presented the cases before the court.
Dinu Kumar told the court that the State government is conducting caste and economic surveys. He said that this right to conduct surveys is beyond the jurisdiction of the State government.
Advocate general (AG) PK Shahi, during the hearing on Wednesday, said the caste-based survey was absolutely voluntary, and not compulsory like the census.
The next hearing in the case will be on July 3. (with Agency inputs)