Patna (IANS) | The Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the interim order of the Patna High Court banning caste census in Bihar. Meanwhile, former Deputy Chief Minister of Bihar and Rajya Sabha member Sushil Kumar Modi termed the Supreme Court’s refusal to lift the ban on the caste census as a fresh blow to the state government.
He said that if the High Court does not hear on July 3, then the Supreme Court can hear it on July 13. He said that an all-party meeting should be called on this issue.
Modi said that the government had already confused the caste census by lobbying weakly in the High Court, due to which an interim stay was put on this survey.
He said that the decision to conduct the caste census was taken by the NDA government in June last year. He asked why there was a delay of seven months in starting work on it with the counting of houses.
Modi said that the government should immediately convene an all-party meeting and take everyone into confidence and tell whether the questionnaire has been prepared and what is the preparation.
He said that if necessary, a law should be made for caste census by calling a special session of the assembly.
Modi said that with the intention of taking sole credit for the caste census, the Chief Minister did not establish dialogue with the opposition and did not call an all-party meeting.
He said that the decision to conduct the caste census was taken when the BJP was in government and for this the party stood in support at every level, from the resolution being passed twice in the Legislature to being included in the delegation that met the Prime Minister.
Modi said that even in the matter of giving reservation to the most backward people in the municipal elections, the government was criticized in the court and the elections had to be postponed.
–IANS
