Allahabad HC Stays Requisition of LIC Employees for Census 2027 Duty, Finds Nagar Nigam Order Prima Facie Bad in Law
A Division Bench found the Kanpur Nagar Nigam's order requisitioning LIC employees for Census 2027 field work prima facie outside the limits of Section 7(c) of the Census Act, 1948.
A Division Bench of the Allahabad High Court, comprising Justice Salil Kumar Rai and Justice Swarupama Chaturvedi, on 8 June 2026 stayed an order dated 5 May 2026 by which the Zonal Officer, Zone-1 / Charge Officer, Nagar Nigam, Kanpur had requisitioned employees of the Life Insurance Corporation of India for Census 2027 duty. The Bench, hearing Special Appeal No. 729 of 2026 filed by the North Central Zone Insurance Employees Federation, reversed the Single Judge's dismissal of the underlying writ petition and held that the requisition order was prima facie not within the parameters of Section 7(c) of the Census Act, 1948. The matter has been listed for final hearing on 6 July 2026.
The Dispute Before the Division Bench
The North Central Zone Insurance Employees Federation had filed Writ-A No. 7210 of 2026 before a Single Judge, seeking to quash the decision to engage LIC employees for Census 2027 work and to restrain the respondent authorities from deploying them. The prayers in the writ petition asked the court to call for the record and quash the Zonal Officer's decision, and separately to issue a writ of mandamus directing the authorities not to engage any LIC employee for Census 2027 duty.
The Single Judge dismissed the writ petition on 29 May 2026. The dismissal rested on two grounds: first, that the petitioner had not specifically challenged the order dated 5 May 2026 by which the employees were requisitioned; and second, that the ancillary prayer for a writ of mandamus could not be granted without a specific prayer challenging that order. The Federation then filed the present Special Appeal.
Why the Single Judge's Reasoning Was Questioned
The Division Bench examined the pleadings in the writ petition, which had been annexed with the affidavit filed in support of the Special Appeal. It found that the dispute raised in the writ petition was squarely about the order dated 5 May 2026 passed by the Zonal Manager, Nagar Nigam, Kanpur. The prayer to call for records and quash the decision of the Zonal Officer was, in the Bench's reading, directed at that very order.
The Bench held that a prayer in a writ petition must be read in light of the contents of the petition as a whole. On that basis, it found the Single Judge's conclusion — that no specific challenge had been raised to the 5 May 2026 order — to be prima facie incorrect. The question of whether the ancillary mandamus prayer could stand without a specific quashing prayer was left open for final hearing.
The Jurisdictional Question Under the Census Act, 1948
The substantive challenge before the Bench was whether the Zonal Manager, Nagar Nigam, Kanpur had any jurisdiction to requisition LIC employees under Section 4 of the Census Act, 1948. The Federation had argued before the Single Judge that the order violated Section 4(4) of the Census Act, 1948 read with Rule 3 of the Census Rules, 1990.
The Division Bench, however, located the relevant source of power in Section 7 of the Census Act, 1948, relying on a Division Bench judgment of this Court dated 4 March 2011 in Civil Misc. Writ Petition No. 28736 of 2010. Section 7 permits the District Magistrate, or such authority as the State Government may appoint for any local area, to call upon officers and members of staff of any factory, firm or establishment to give assistance towards the taking of a census.
The Bench read Section 7(c) carefully. It observed that even if the State Government's authorised officer could requisition staff of an establishment for census assistance, that power is confined to census operations within the premises of the establishment — not outside them. The order dated 5 May 2026, on a prima facie reading, directed LIC employees to perform census duty beyond their own premises, which the Bench found to fall outside the statutory parameters.
The Bench also rejected the State Government's and Union of India's submission that no interim order should be passed because census operations are of national importance. It held that the legality of an order passed by a State authority does not depend solely on the purpose of the order; compliance with statutory requirements is equally necessary. Having already found the order prima facie bad in law, the Bench declined to withhold interim relief.
Outcome
The Division Bench stayed the operation of the order dated 5 May 2026 passed by the Zonal Officer, Zone-1 / Charge Officer, Nagar Nigam, Kanpur until 6 July 2026. The parties were directed to exchange affidavits before that date. The Special Appeal has been listed for final hearing on 6 July 2026 before the appropriate Bench.