New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday (October 6) refused to pass any order restraining the Bihar government from acting on the data it has collected through the caste survey. Hearing a batch of pleas challenging the constitutionality of the survey, the court adjourned the hearing until January 2024.“We cannot stop state government or any government from taking a decision,” the bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S.V.N. Bhatti remarked orally, according to LiveLaw. The petitions were filed by Youth for Equality and Ek Soch Ek Prayas, two NGOs, challenging the Patna high court’s decision in August upholding the Bihar government’s decision to conduct a caste survey.According to LiveLaw, advocate Aparajitha Singh – appearing for the petitioners – took exception to the state government releasing the caste composition data earlier this week while the matter was sub-judice. “They have preempted the court. We were arguing stay,” she said, arguing that the state’s decision to collect caste details violated the Supreme Court’s judgment in Puttaswamy, which recognised privacy as a fundamental right. The state government is yet to show any “legitimate purpose” for the survey, the lawyer argued, seeking an interim status quo order asking the government not to act upon the survey data.When Justice Khanna asked the state why the data was published, senior advocate Shyam Divan indicated that there was no order preventing such a move. “This court indicated that first and foremost, it will decide whether notice is to be issued,” he said.According to LiveLaw, the court observed that the matter requires to be heard at length and adjourned the hearing. It issued a formal notice to the state government on the petitions. While Singh reiterated the plea for status quo, the bench categorically declined it.“We cannot stop state government or any government from taking a decision. That would be wrong. But, if there’s an issue with regards to data, that will be considered. We are going to examine the other issue regarding the power of the state government to conduct this exercise,” Justice Khanna said.Also Read | Beyond Politics: Caste Census Is About Deepening India’s Social Justice ParadigmThe data released by the Bihar government shows that extremely backward classes (EBC) constituted 36.01% of the state’s population, while other backward classes (OBC) contributed an additional 27.12%. Collectively, these groups make up 63.13% of the 13-crore population of the state, while nearly 20% belong to Scheduled Castes (SC) and 1.6% to Scheduled Tribes (ST). The general category accounts for around 15%, the data showed.The caste survey was launched in Bihar in January this year, which the government said would allow it to frame policies that would help uplift disadvantaged groups. The survey was halted temporarily in May by the Patna high court. In August, the high court said the exercise was ‘perfectly valid’ and initiated with due competence.The caste census has become a political issue, with the INDIA bloc of opposition parties pressuring the Union government to conduct such an exercise at the national level. While the Congress-led UPA government conducted a Socio-Economic and Caste Census (SECC) in 2011-12, the data was never released.