HC Puts Goa’s ST Population Estimate on Hold, Citing Census Commissioner’s Data Concerns

The Bombay High Court has restrained the Census Commissioner of India from notifying the estimated Scheduled Tribe (ST) population of Goa, a key step linked to the proposed reservation for the community in the state Assembly.

The Goa bench passed the interim order on Thursday while hearing a petition filed by Edwin Lucio Fernandes, who challenged the constitutional validity of the Readjustment of Representation of Scheduled Tribes in Assembly Constituencies of the State of Goa Act, 2025. Enacted by Parliament in August 2025 and brought into force in August 2026, the law provides for the readjustment of Assembly constituencies to facilitate ST reservation.

The petitioner argued that the Act prohibits the readjustment of reserved seats for Assembly or Lok Sabha elections until the first Census is completed after 2026. He also challenged a provision empowering the Census Commissioner to estimate Goa's ST population using the last Census figures and notify its proportion of the state's total population.

The petitioner's counsel submitted that once published, the notification would be final and could not be challenged in court. A Division Bench of Justices Valmiki Menezes and Amit S Jamsandekar noted that the Census Commissioner had attempted to estimate the ST population based on figures from the 2001 or 2011 Census.

The court pointed out that, in a September 10 communication to the Union Ministry of Law and Justice, the commissioner had acknowledged that available data did not permit an estimate of Goa's current population or its population under any category. The Bench expressed surprise that the commissioner had nevertheless stated, based on the 2001 Census, that the ST community's share could be "reasonably presumed" to have remained unchanged at 9.9 per cent.

Reacting to the order, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said his government remained committed to securing legislative reservation for the ST community and had consistently pursued the matter with the Centre.

Sawant said the state would urge the Centre to approach the Supreme Court to protect the community's interests. The development comes ahead of Goa's Assembly elections, expected in early 2027.