Chandigarh: The Punjab and Haryana High Court has stayed two Haryana government communications seeking details of teachers for Census 2027, granting interim relief to private unaided schools from deploying their staff for the exercise.
Justice Harpreet Singh Brar passed the interim order on 8 October on a petition filed by the Haryana Progressive Schools Conference (HPSC), which represents private unaided schools in the state. The communications are dated 1 September and 7 September. The stay applies only to private unaided schools.
The Census of India 2027 is being conducted in two phases. The first phase of houselisting and housing census was scheduled from April to September 2026 and the second phase covering population enumeration and caste census is scheduled for February 2027.
The petitioner argued that the government had no authority to requisition their teaching staff for Census duty. It contended that Section 4A of the Census Act, 1948, covers officers and staff of “local authorities”, a category that does not include private unaided schools. The government, it argued, could not expand the law’s scope through administrative communications.
The HPSC also submitted that deploying teachers for non-teaching duties without clear legal backing interferes with private institutions’ autonomy and violates their rights under Articles 14 (Right to Equality) and 19(1)(g) (Freedom of Profession, Trade or Business) of the Constitution.
Citing the Supreme Court’s 2002 judgment in T.M.A. Pai Foundation v. State of Karnataka, the petitioner argued that private unaided institutions enjoy a degree of autonomy in management and that government regulation cannot overstep those limits.
The petitioner was represented by advocates Rohit Sud, Gaurav Arora, Ishan and Sameesh Bassi. The Union of India and others have been named as respondents.
This is not the association’s first challenge to the deployment of teachers for Census duty. It withdrew an earlier writ petition on 29 May, with liberty to file a fresh one if schools were again asked to provide staff. The latest petition followed the September communications, which sought details of teachers in both private and government schools.
The High Court has not ruled on the merits of the petitioner’s arguments; its order grants only interim relief. Assistant Advocate General Priyavrat Parashar accepted notice on behalf of the state and sought time to file a reply.
The court directed the state to file its reply at least seven days before the next hearing and provide an advance copy to the petitioner. The case will be heard on 29 April 2027.
(Edited by Chingkheinganbi Mayengbam)