Bangalore, 23 September (IANS) Counsles representing petitioners demand an interim migration on the socio-economic and academic survey, which is commonly referred to as a caste census, on Tuesday, on Tuesday, the High Court argued that the Congress-led government in Karnataka has no rights under the law.
Akhila Bharat Brahmin Mahasabha, Vokkaliga Mahasabha, and other community groups filed a pile, demanding to stay on a caste census being done by an independent body, backward classes commission under the Congress -led State Government.
On Tuesday, the Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru and Justice CM Joshi postponed the matter on 24 August (Wednesday). The arguments of the counsels representing the petitioners concluded on Tuesday, while senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi will continue his arguments on Wednesday.
Senior advocate Prabhuing Nawadi, who was present for the petitioners, presented, “The state government has no right to survey backward classes. The socio-economic and academic survey, known as a caste survey, is being conducted with conducting no legal support. Information is also being collected through a digital app.”
He said that only the President of India has the right to release information about backward classes, and only Parliament has the power to include castes in the list of backward classes.
Nawadi further said that caste census is being organized using GPS tagging and electricity meter registration numbers. During the survey, the respondents are asked to provide Aadhaar details and provide complete information about the head of the family.
Senior advocate for the petitioners, Ashok Harnalli argued that under the Constitution, the census comes under the list of the Union. The center has a mechanism to ensure the safety of the data collected during the census. However, the state government has not taken any measures to protect the data collected in this exercise. The Supreme Court has recognized the right to protect private data, and there is a serious threat to information leaks, insisting.
Advocate Jayakumar Patil also appeared for the petitioners, said that the state government is doing census under the guise of socio-economic and academic survey. He said, “The state is fulfilling the powers of the center. It has no right to do a census, yet it is calculating every caste. This practice is politically motivated and being done with an eye on elections,” he argued.
Senior advocate Vivek Sabbredi said that in the 2002 notification, 800 castes were listed, but this number has now increased to 1,561. “While our heritage is ancient, the number of castes has not increased. The government has not clarified the criteria on which these new castes were created,” he said.
He further argued that caste census is a specific task, and the state has not been vested with such powers under it.
“The state has arbitrarily created new religious castes such as Banangiga Christian, Besta Christian, and others. In this way, 35 to 40 castes have been added to new.
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