A Bengaluru law firm has filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petition in the Karnataka High Court asking the government to postpone the implementation of the contentious National Population Register (NPR). The firm cites the COVID-19 pandemic as reason for the postponement. The census and the NPR process is set to begin in Karnataka on April 15, with enumerators going door-to-door to collect details of residents.
The petition states that the COVID-19 pandemic “endangers the public around the world” and that “The orders issued by the Government of Karnataka to the enumerators, directing them to carry out the census and NPR updation exercise, infringes upon the right to health of the enumerators.”
Courts across the country, from district courts up to the Supreme Court, are currently operating on an emergency basis only, due to the imminent threat of coronavirus. The petition is being backed by private citizens, and is being represented by Precinct Legal’s Shahbaaz Husain. However, the court on Monday noted that there is no immediate implementation of NPR, and has directed the matter to be listed in due course.
The petition noted that the census and NPR enumerators would be going door-to-door to thousands of households, some of which are under quarantine. This would infringe upon the health rights of these enumerators, and put the public at large under risk.
The PIL also said that the civic body was violating its own orders against public gatherings in Bengaluru, to hold a training session for the enumerators. It said that the BBMP held a meeting with 350 Census and NPR enumerators in Bengaluru’s Town Hall on March 16, which was in contradiction of its own orders against public gatherings in the wake of the COVID-19 epidemic. The petition also claimed that the government would not incur any financial losses should the population enumeration exercise be pushed back by a few months.
A report from TOI dated March 17 quoted BBMP official Anbu Kumar as saying that the training had been fixed a month ago, and had to be conducted as the date for NPR was drawing closer, and could not be postponed.
The Chief Ministers of Kerala and Madhya Pradesh have declared that they will not implement it in their respective states. However, Chief Minister of Karnataka BS Yediyurappa has said that Karnataka will implement the NPR-linked CAA “one hundred percent.”
Note: A previous version of this story said that the petition was being heard on Wednesday, March 25. This has been updated.