The Supreme Court's reluctance to direct separate enumeration of DNTs in the 2027 Census raises questions about the balance between judicial restraint and the rights of historically excluded communities. Discuss.

Q. The Supreme Court's reluctance to direct separate enumeration of DNTs in the 2027 Census raises questions about the balance between judicial restraint and the rights of historically excluded communities. (15 marks, 250-350 words)

Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Tribes (DNTs), collectively criminalised under the Criminal Tribes Act, 1871 and denotified only in 1952, have never been enumerated as a distinct category in independent India. The Supreme Court's March 2026 refusal to direct such enumeration in Census 2027 [5] sets the limits of judicial power against a claim to statistical visibility.

Why the Court's restraint is defensible - Census design is executive policy: the questionnaire is framed by the Registrar General under the Census Act, 1948; questions for the population-enumeration phase, including on caste, are notified by the Government before that phase begins [1] — a domain courts traditionally do not redesign. - Institutional competence: adding an enumeration category requires settled definitions; DNT lists are administratively evolving, with 1,262 communities identified only in 2018 [2]. - Judicial caution on classification: the bench warned that multiplying categories may harden social divisions rather than dissolve them, echoing the constitutional preference for eventual equality under Articles 14–16 [5]. - An alternative remedy existed — the petitioners were directed to the executive, which had already been approached on caste enumeration [1].

Why the claim of the excluded is strong - Data invisibility is exclusion: with only the Renke Commission's estimate of over 10 crore DNTs to rely on [4], entitlements cannot be sized or targeted. - DNTs enjoy no constitutional schedule like Articles 341/342; their protection rests on executive schemes such as SEED and the DWBDNC (2019) [3], making enumeration the precondition for rights, not a privilege. - Scattered across SC, ST and OBC state lists, many are counted everywhere and nowhere, defeating evidence-based welfare [2].

Restraint here is procedurally sound but substantively incomplete: the Court closed a door it could not open, leaving the obligation squarely with the executive. The Government should notify a DNT identifier within the second-phase caste enumeration, backed by a firm national list and periodic DWBDNC review — converting seven decades of denotification into genuine recognition, consistent with Article 46 and SDG-10's pledge to leave no one behind.

(~325 words)

Sources: 1. Population Census-2027 to be conducted in two phases along with enumeration of castes — PIB — two-phase Census, caste enumeration in phase II, questions notified by Government 2. Nomadic and De-notified Tribes — PIB, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment — 1,262 identified communities; overlap with SC/ST/OBC state lists 3. Development and Welfare Board for De-notified, Nomadic and Semi-Nomadic Communities (DWBDNC), MoSJE — Board constituted 2019; SEED and welfare schemes 4. Status of Commission for Denotified and Nomadic Tribes — PIB — Renke Commission population estimate and commission mandates 5. Supreme Court of India, order in the plea for DNT enumeration in Census 2027 (March 2026), sci.gov.in — refusal to direct enumeration; "dividing society" observation; matter held to be policy