The Supreme Court Friday refused to restrain the Bihar government from publishing further data from its caste survey, saying it cannot stop the state from taking any policy decision.

“We are not staying anything at this moment. We cannot stop the state govt or any govt from making a policy decision. That would be wrong. We are going to examine the other issue regarding the power of the state govt to conduct this exercise,” the apex court said.

The top court issued a formal notice on a batch of pleas challenging the August 1 order of the Patna High Court that gave the go-ahead for the caste survey in Bihar. It listed the matter in January 2024.

The apex court rejected the objections of the petitioners that the state government had preempted the stay order by publishing some data and demanded that a complete stay should be ordered on further publication of data.

On October 2, the Bihar government released findings of its caste survey.