Supreme Court asks Centre to respond on caste verification procedure for Census 2027
12 October 2026
On Monday, 12 October 2026, the Supreme Court heard a petition on how caste information will be recorded and verified in Census 2027. A bench of CJI Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and V Mohana asked Solicitor General Tushar Mehta to return with the government's response within two weeks. The Court did not issue a formal notice at this stage and asked the petitioner, Akash Goel, to hand over a copy of the petition to the Solicitor General. It sought clarity on the procedure for collecting and verifying caste information and asked for a note on it. On 14 August, the government notified the Census 2027 questions under Section 8(1) of the Census Act, 1948; Item 10 seeks information on a person's caste status, including whether they belong to a Scheduled Caste or Scheduled Tribe. The petition seeks a mechanism to record details of government-issued caste certificates and check their authenticity, and says it does not seek to impede the census.
In plain words
Census Act, 1948 The law under which Census 2027 questions were notified — Section 8(1) was cited for the 14 August notification.
Solicitor General Second-highest law officer of the Union — Tushar Mehta was asked to bring the government's response.