“Reservation should be meant for only the first generation among a category,” said Justice Pankaj Mithal as the Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that sub-classification within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes is permissible. Justice Mithal called for a periodic review of reservation to check if the “second generation has come shoulder to shoulder with the general category”.
The 7-judge constitution bench, by a 6:1 majority, held that sub-classifying reserved category groups – the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes – was legal. While six judges were in favour, Justice Bela Trivedi dissented.
The ruling also overruled the EV Chinnaiah case ruling. In EV Chinnaiah case, the bench of Justices N Santosh Hegde, SN Variava, BP Singh, HK Sema, SB Sinha had held that all the castes in the Presidential Order under Article 341(1) of the Constitution formed one class of homogeneous group and the same could not be further subdivided.
Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud said that it was established through historical evidence that Scheduled Caste notified by the President are a “heterogenous class” and not homogeneous.
Top Quotes From Justice Pankaj Mithal
“Reservation should be meant for only the first generation among a category and if the second generation has come up then benefits of reservation shall not be given and state should see if after reservation the second generation has come shoulder to shoulder with the general category.”
Top Quotes From CJI DY Chadrachud
“The members of SC ST are not often able to climb up the ladder due to the systemic discrimination faced. Article 14 permits sub classification of caste, court must check if class is homogeneous and a class not integrated for a purpose can be further classified.”
“Historical evidence shows that depressed class were not homogenous class and social conditions show that all classes under that is not uniform. In the state of MP, out of 25 castes only 9 are scheduled castes. We have also established through historical evidence that scheduled caste notified by the president are a heterogenous class. there is nothing in article 15, 16 and 341 which prevents sub classification for SC if there is a rational for distinction and there is a rational nexus for the object sought to be achieved.”
“The struggles that a class faces does not disappear with the representation it receives in the lower grades. Chinnaiah is overruled.”
Top Quotes From Justice Gavai
“I have referred to speech of Dr Ambedkar in 1949 where he said unless we have social democracy there is no use of political democracy.”
“Hardships and backwardness suffered by some of the scheduled castes is different by each caste. EV Chinnaiah is wrongly decided. It was argued that a party can give reservation to a sub caste to gain political mileage, but I do not agree with this. The ultimate objective would be to realise real equality. As has been held by judicial pronouncements, it has to be supported by empirical data.”
“When a person gets into a compartment, they try all means to stop others from getting into that compartment. Only on account of social justice they have got the benefit but when state decides to give that benefit to the ones who are not adequately represented then the same cannot be denied.”
“State must evolve a policy to identify creamy layer among the SC ST category and take them out of the fold of affirmative action (reservation). This is the only way to gain true equality.”
Top Quotes From Justice Bela Trivedi
“I respectfully disagree with the majority judgment. I have not approved the manner in which 3 judge bench referred it to larger bench without assigning any reasons.”
“The three judge bench passed a cryptic and perfunctory order without assigning any reasons. Doctrine of precedents is the core value of our legal system. In the instant case, the reference was made to reconsider EV Chinnaiah without any reasons and that too after 15 years of the judgment. The very reference was itself wrong.”
“In absence of executive of legislative power, the states do not have any competence to sub classify the castes and sub classify the benefits which are reserved for the all of SC.”
“Under the guise of providing reservation states cannot tinker with presidential list and it will be nothing but colorable exercise of power which is impermissible under law. The whole doctrine of the colorable exercise of power is that what is not permitted directly cannot be done indirectly.”
Top Quotes From Justice SC Sharma
“Identification of creamy layer among SC ST must become a constitutional imperative.”
Key Takeaways From The Supreme Court Ruling
- Sub-classification amongst reserved categories permissible: SC majority verdict holds
- Supreme court overrules the EV Chinnaiah judgement
- Supreme Court says SC/STs cannot be considered to be homogenous
- Supreme Court says sub-classification is only possible if supported by quantifiable data.
- Permissible for Centre and States to earmark most backward classes within the reserved category of SC/ST: Supreme Court
What is The EV Chinnaiah Judgement?
In 2005 in the EV Chinnaiah vs The State of Andhra Pradesh and Others case, the bench of Justices N Santosh Hegde, SN Variava, BP Singh, HK Sema, SB Sinha had held that all the castes in the Presidential Order under Article 341(1) of the Constitution formed one class of homogeneous group and the same could not be further subdivided.
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