Telangana HC declines to halt caste survey

Justice S Nanda has scheduled further hearings for November 21. Reports indicated that they will proceed with the survey.

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court has declined to halt the caste survey scheduled to begin on November 6, while instructing the state government to establish a dedicated backward classes commission within a week to oversee the process.

Justice S Nanda has scheduled further hearings for November 21. Reports indicated that they will proceed with the survey as planned since the existing commission is already tasked with this responsibility and the court did not impose a stay on the operation.

The first public hearing prior to the door-to-door survey took place on October 28 in Adilabad.

This interim order was issued in response to a petition filed by former MP R Krishnaiah, who argued that the government’s decision to bypass the formation of a new commission and utilize the existing backward classes commission contradicts directions from the Supreme Court.

Justice Nanda noted that the current commission, established under the Backward Commission Act of 1993, cannot be deemed a dedicated body for assessing political backwardness.

Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy quickly approached Justice Nanda’s court, requesting a review of the recent order.

He stated, “The state government appointed the backward classes commission in November 2021. The Government Order issued specifies that the commission is to function as the statutory body for collecting empirical data on backward classes in the state. We have already complied with the Supreme Court’s directive,” the AG asserted.