Ashutosh Kumar
– Photo: Amar Ujala
Expansion
On May 4, the Patna High Court had put an interim stay on the caste-based population census in Bihar. Till the time this ban was imposed, its constitutionality was generally debated in the courts. It was held that the center has the authority to conduct population census, so it is outside the purview of the state government. But, the issue is not only this. There are five Civil Writ Jurisdiction Cases (CWJC) in Patna High Court, on which collective hearing is now starting once again. Issues like caste and gender are yet to be debated.
Collective hearing is being held on five CWJC
The Patna High Court was hearing five Civil Writ Jurisdiction Cases (CWJC) filed together regarding caste-based population census. After the interim order, now there will be hearing again, then these five cases will go on. Civil Writ Juridiction Case (CWJC) 5542 filed by Youth for Equality, CWJC 4624 filed by Akhilesh Kumar, CWJC 4650 filed by Ek Soch Ek Prayas Sanstha, CWJC 6505 filed by Reshma Prasad and Muskan Kumari CWJC 6506, filed by, will be heard collectively. Advocates Abhinav Srivastava, Dhananjay Kumar Tiwari, Rajat Kashyap, Deep Shekhar and Amit Anand are in the court for CWJC 5542. On CWJC 4624, Dinu Kumar, Ritika Rani, Hinja Gautam and Vardhan Mangalam will appear before the government on behalf of the petitioner. Advocates Avinash Kumar Pandey and Brajesh Nath Pandey on CWJC 4650, Shashwat Sachin, Sumit Kumar and Shudi Bharti on case CWJC 6505 and MP Dixit, SK Dixit, Swastika and Sanjay Kumar Choubey are presenting the case before the government on CWJC 6506.
Three issues were debated, four issues remained untouched
According to the advocates who have studied these five civil writ jurisdiction cases in the Patna High Court, the constitutionality of the process, the security of data collected for census and the points related to contempt of the Supreme Court have been debated in the High Court. The sides of the government and the petitioners have been heard. Four important issues raised by the petitioners remain unaddressed – 1. Renaming of castes during the census (eg, Bhumihar Brahmin as Bhumihar), 2. Sub-castes being shown as castes ( Like- Bengali Kayastha), 3. Telling Kinnar as a caste and 4. Not determining the caste of Sikhs.