Nothing wrong in holding caste census, any govt of the day should know who is backward, SC says

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) said there was nothing wrong in determining caste as part of the nationwide census exercise of the government of the day.

Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, who headed the three-judge bench, said: “Any government today has to know how many people are backward and how many need social assistance. This is a matter of policy.”

The court was responding to a plea filed by the petitioner Sudhakar Gummula himself that the caste census should not be made a part of the 2027 Census.

“The possibilities of politicians and corporate entities misusing caste data are endless. There is no justification for collecting such extensive data on caste,” Mr. Gummula said.

The Chief Justice said it was not within the jurisdiction of the court to decide whether caste census is necessarily part of the 2027 Census.

“This issue falls solely in the realm of politics,” the CJI said before the court dismissed the petition.

The Cabinet Political Affairs Committee had decided to include caste census in the 2027 Census in its meeting in April last year. Since then, caste counting has emerged as a key feature of the 2027 Census.

Until the 2011 Census, the exercise involved systematic enumeration of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes only.

The government had informed on the floor of Parliament about the inclusion of caste census in the second phase of Census 2027. The first stage is the housing conditions, assets, amenities, etc. of each household. It involved collecting Home Listing Operation (HLO) information regarding.

The second phase, the Census, will involve collecting demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details.

Former Vice President Jagdeep Dhankar had said that “thoughtfully collected caste data will be an integration tool like an MRI of the body.”

The last comprehensive nationwide caste census in India was conducted in colonial India in 1931.