Telangana HC Asks State to Include No Religion, No Caste Column in Caste Census Form

Hyderabad: Justice Surepalli Nanda of the Telangana High Court on Tuesday directed the state government to take a decision on creating a separate column to record and enumerate the people who want to opt for ‘No religion, no caste’ (NRNC) in the caste census that is set to commence on Wednesday.

The Judge was dealing with a petition filed by Mohammad Waheed and D.L. Krishna Chand, who approached the court contending that the government was not considering their representations dated 29.10.2024 and 01.11.2024.

Justice Nanda observed that the Constitution provided that all persons were equally entitled to freedom of conscience and the right freely to profess, practice and propagate religion.

Taking into consideration Article 25(1), which includes in itself freedom of an individual to state that he does not belong to any religion or caste, the judge directed the government to consider the representations of petitioners.