The Supreme Court is set to review its recent judgment that states possess the constitutional authority to sub-classify Scheduled Castes (SCs) for reservations. This in-chambers review, scheduled for Tuesday, will involve a seven-judge Constitution bench led by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud. The other justices on the bench include Justices B R Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma.
The bench will revisit the August 1 ruling which supported the ability of states to create sub-classifications within SCs to provide reservations specifically aimed at uplifting those castes that are socially and educationally more backward within the group. The court emphasized that such sub-classification must be based on “quantifiable and demonstrable data” concerning their backwardness and underrepresentation in government jobs, rather than on arbitrary decisions or political convenience.
This decision marked a significant shift from the Supreme Court’s 2004 verdict in the EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh case, which had concluded that SCs form a homogeneous group and therefore cannot be sub-classified. The recent majority decision overruled this earlier stance, with only Justice Trivedi dissenting. In her dissent, Justice Trivedi argued that only the Parliament has the authority to modify the SC list, asserting that SCs are a homogeneous group and cannot be further sub-classified.*
The matter arose from actions taken by states like Punjab, which had enacted laws to sub-classify SCs to extend more substantial quota benefits to certain castes within the group. These legislative moves prompted a series of legal challenges and a reevaluation of the Chinnaiah judgment.
