Sub-Classification Of SC/ST Categories Permissible? Supreme Court To Pronounce Judgment Tomorrow
A seven-judge Constitution bench of the Supreme Court will pronounce judgment tomorrow on the permissibility of sub-classification within Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The Bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma reserved the judgment on February 8 this year after hearing the matter for three days. .
The matter was referred to a 7-judge bench by a 5-judge bench in 2020 in the case State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh. The 5-judge bench observed that the judgment of the coordinate bench inE.V.Chinnaiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (2005) 1 SCC 394, which held that sub-classification was not permissible, was required to be reconsidered.
In the 3 daylong hearing, the Court deliberated upon the social history of untouchability, the notion of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes as perceived from the lens of Constitution makers, the purpose of reservations in India and the significance of Article 341 in furthering the same and its interplay Articles 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution.
The reference took place in a case concerning the validity of Section 4(5) of the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, 2006. The provision stipulated that fifty per cent of the vacancies of the quota reserved for Scheduled Castes in direct recruitment shall be offered to Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs, subject to their availability, by providing first preference from amongst the Scheduled Castes candidates.
In 2010, a division bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court struck down the provision, relying on EV Chinnaiah judgment.
Case : State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh | C.A. No. 2317/2011