Patna: The Patna High Court on Thursday instructed the state government led by Nitish Kumar to halt the caste-based survey in the state with immediate effect, media reports said.

Further, the high court directed the state government to safeguard the data collected so far and ensure it is not disseminated to anyone until the final verdict is reached on the writ petition filed against the survey.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Madhuresh Prasad, criticized the state government for not taking responsibility for the right to privacy and noted that the notification issued by the government indicated their intention to share the data with leaders of different political parties in the state Assembly.

“We also see from the notification issued that the government intends to share the data with leaders of different parties of the state Assembly,” the Patna HC bench was quoted as saying by India Today.

Following the ruling, the opposition BJP unleashed a blistering attack against the Bihar government for creating a "defective policy".

Former Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tarkishore Prasad also criticised the government for putting forward its case before the court in an appropriate manner.

Rashtriya Lok Janata Dal chief Upendra Kushwaha also held the state government responsible for taking a casual approach when the writ petition was being heard by the Patna High Court.

Communist Party of India (Marxist) General Secretary Sitaram Yechury that the caste survey is indispensable, and he hopes that the Bihar government will appeal the decision in a higher court.

Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Yadav said the survey was based on caste and not simply a caste survey.

“The purpose of the caste-based survey is to help the disadvantaged people of Bihar, which has been supported by both Lalu Yadav and Nitish Kumar,” he said.

Furthermore, he affirmed that their government is determined to conduct the survey, and they are currently waiting for the detailed court order.

On January 7, the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar began its much-anticipated caste-based survey at a cost of Rs 500 crore. The survey was planned to be conducted in two stages, with the first round taking place from January 7 to 21, and the second round starting on April 15 and scheduled to continue until May 15.

Data were collected digitally using a mobile application as part of the eight-level survey conducted by the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.

The survey was conducted from the panchayat to the district level and included questions about the respondent's place of residence, caste, family size, profession, and annual income.

The survey was carried out by workers including teachers, Anganwadi workers, MGNREGA workers, and Jeevika workers.

The next court hearing is scheduled for July, and at that time, the government will have the opportunity to present its perspective to the court.