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

Enumerators go door to door to collect details of residents as part of the first phase of Census – 2027 in Gurunanak Colony, Vijayawada. | Photo credit: KVS Giri

The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 20, 2026) said there was nothing wrong with the government of the day in ascertaining caste under the national census.

“Every government of the day must know how many people are backward and how many need welfare. That is a matter of politics,” said India’s Chief Justice Surya Kant, who headed the three-judge bench.

The court was responding to a plea filed by personal petitioner Sudhakar Gummula that the enumeration of castes should not be part of the 2027 census.

“There are endless possibilities for politicians and corporations to misuse caste data. There is no justification for collecting so much caste data,” Mr Gummula said.

The Chief Justice said that it was not within the jurisdiction of the court to decide whether the caste enumeration should necessarily be part of the 2027 census or not.

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

The Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs decided to include caste enumeration in the 2027 census in a meeting held in April last year. Since then, the enumeration of castes has become a major feature of the 2027 census.

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

On the floor of the Parliament, the government informed about the inclusion of caste enumeration in the second phase of the Census 2027. The first phase involved the collection of information on housing conditions, assets, amenities, etc. of each household from the HLO.

The second phase, a population census, would involve the collection of demographic, socio-economic, cultural and other details.

Former vice president Jagdeep Dhankar said that “thoughtfully collected caste data would be a tool of integration like an MRI of the body”.

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

Published – 20 May 2026 12:10 PM IST