Supreme Court dismisses Maharashtra's plea for use of Socio-Economic Caste Census 2011 data

On December 6, the court had stayed 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in local body elections, brought in through an ordinance by the Maharashtra government

The Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected the Maharashtra government's plea for a direction to the Centre to provide data on Socio-Economic Caste Census collected in 2011, saying issuing such an order would lead to confusion and uncertainty that cannot be countenanced.

A bench presided over by Justice A M Khanwilkar noted that the Union government's submission that the 2011 caste census was unusable for official purposes because of grave inaccuracies and cannot form the basis for reservations in admission, promotion or local body polls.

The bench, also comprising Justice MM Sundresh, said, "Excess representation is also anti-thesis to democratic values".

The top court dismissed the writ petition filed by the Maharashtra government.

On December 6, the court had stayed 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes in the local body elections, brought in through an ordinance by the Maharashtra government.

Also Read — No caste-wise census, except of SCs, STs, since Independence: Government

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, submitted that Socio-Economic and Caste Census 2011 was not made public as it was found to be flawed and was bound to mislead. He said no reliance can be placed on SECC 2011 not only for reservation but also for employment, education or any other purpose.

Senior advocate Shekhar Naphade, appearing for the Maharashtra government, submitted that Article 243D(6) of the Constitution enabled a state legislature to provide reservations for backward classes in local bodies and the Central government had a legal obligation under the Census Act to do caste enumeration for implementing reservation in local bodies.

With regard to Centre's claim that SECC data was full of errors, he said there has to be an examination by an independent committee of experts.

The court, however, said, "The fact remains that the affidavit by the Union government emphatically states that the data which is collated is not accurate and not usable. If that is the stand, we fail to understand how mandamus can be issued to permit the State of Maharashtra to use the date for any purpose."

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