Can't stop state from taking policy decision: SC refuses to restrain Bihar govt from publishing data from caste survey

The Supreme Court rejected the objections of the petitioners that Bihar government has preempted the stay order by publishing some data and demanded that a complete stay should be ordered on further publication of data The Supreme Court Friday refused to restrain the Bihar government from publishing further data from its caste survey, saying it cannot stop the state from taking any policy decision. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and S V N Bhatti issued a formal notice on a batch of pleas challenging the August 1 order of the Patna High Court that gave the go-ahead for the caste survey in Bihar. The top court rejected the objections of the petitioners that the state government has preempted the stay order by publishing some data and demanded that a complete stay should be ordered on further publication of data. On October 2, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar released findings of its caste survey, months ahead of the 2024 Parliamentary elections.