Supreme Court rejects Maharashtra's plea seeking access to Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 data

Satya Prakash

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, December 15

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Maharashtra government's petition seeking a direction to the Centre to make public raw census data collected in the Socio-Economic Caste Census (SECC), 2011.

A Bench led by Justice AM Khanwilkar dismissed the state's plea, saying the Centre had described the data as unusable as the same was fraught with mistakes.

The government had sought access to SECC 2011 data to implement reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the local bodies elections in the state.

The Supreme Court on December 6 stayed the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) candidates in local bodies elections in Maharashtra and directed the state election commission not to proceed with the election process with regard to OBC seats.

The Bench had, however, said elections to the rest of seats, including those meant for general category, could go on as scheduled.

The Centre had contended that SECC 2011 was not a census exercise under the Census Act, 1948, and it was done on the basis of executive orders.

"Details available in the record of census pertaining to caste are not reliable either for the purpose of any reservation, whether in admission, employment or elections to local authorities,” the Union Social Justice and Empowerment Ministry had earlier said in an affidavit filed in the top court.

The caste/tribe data from the Socio Economic and Caste Census 2011 is "flawed" and "is not usable", it maintained.

The Centre said census of backward classes was administratively difficult and would suffer both on account of completeness and accuracy.

The Centre said unlike the mandate for collection of census data on SCs and STs, "there is no such constitutional mandate for the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India, to provide the census figures of OBCs".

The Maharashtra government had moved the top court after it decided to conduct a socio-economic and caste census in the state by the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes. In the absence of central census data, proportional representation of OBCs can’t be done in the local bodies, it had submitted.