New Delhi, Dec 15,2021: The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Maharashtra government’s petition to make public the 2011 caste census data.
A Bench of the apex court, comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and CT Ravikumar, while dismissing the petition of Maharashtra government, said that it cannot entertain a petition by the state, when the Union government has maintained that the data was unusable and fraught with mistakes.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Union Government, submitted that SECC-2011 was not a census exercise undertaken under the Census Act 1948 and was done on the basis of executive instructions of the concerned Ministry to enumerate the Caste Census of households for delivery of targeted benefits.
The bench further said the fact that the State of Maharashtra was obliged to comply with the “triple test” requirement before enforcing the reservation for OBCs in the local bodies does not mean that the Union Government can be directed to share the information, which they themselves have classified as unusable.
The Court, however, gave liberty to the State of Maharashtra to pursue other remedies available in law for their relief. It also took note of the fact that Maharashtra has constituted a commission for collecting caste data for the purpose of reservation in local bodies.
