Issue of Caste-Based Census Falls Within Policy Domain: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court dismissed a PIL seeking to exclude caste enumeration from the population census.

The Bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant, Justice Joymalya Bagchi, and Justice Vipul M. Pancholi ruled that determining whether a census should collect caste-based data is strictly an executive policy decision that does not warrant judicial interference.

The petitioner argued that a massive collection of caste data could be susceptible to misuse by political figures and corporate entities.

Rejecting the contention, the Court observed that any government of the day must possess accurate demographic data regarding backward classes to effectively frame, evaluate, and implement targeted socio-economic welfare measures.

[Sudhakar Gummula v. UOI]