2 min readNew DelhiMar 24, 2026 10:35 PM ISTThe senior counsel said the Ministry of Social Justice was in favour of enumerating the tribes. (File Photo)Refusing to entertain a plea seeking enumeration of Denotified, Nomadic and Semi-nomadic Tribe (DNT) communities in the 2027 census, the Supreme Court on Tuesday said that instead of moving towards a casteless society, there are attempts to create more divisions.“India is a very unique country; instead of developing a casteless society, we want to create more and more classifications,” said Chief Justice of India Surya Kant, presiding over a two-judge bench.The bench, also comprising Justice Joymalya Bagchi, was hearing a petition by Dakxinkumar Bajrange, a DNT community leader, and others, seeking enumeration of the tribes in the upcoming census so that they can be distinctly identified.Appearing for the petitioners, Senior Advocate Siddharth Dave said these tribes had to bear much injustice as they were classified as criminal tribes by the British. He said that currently, the enumeration forms only have columns marked SC, ST and others and said if there is an option to mark the denotified tribes, it will at least help know their population.The senior counsel said the Ministry of Social Justice was in favour of enumerating the tribes.But the CJI said, “These are very calculated moves. These are not ordinary and innocent claims that suddenly appear before us…This is a very deep-rooted move to divide society, these agencies are not from within India. If we hold an enquiry, we will find out from where they are routed.”The bench added that it is a policy issue and the court would not want to interfere. It asked the petitioners to approach the competent authorities for redressal of their grievance.Story continues below this ad“In our considered opinion, the classification/ sub-classification sought by the petitioners in the enumeration process is essentially falls in the policy domain, for which the decision has to be taken by the competent authority in the Union of India. It is not a justiciable issue. We deem it appropriate to dispose of the writ petition, with liberty to the petitioners to pursue the matter before the competent authorities,” the court said. © The Indian Express Pvt Ltd