EWS Quota Case Hearing Day 6 - Live Updates From Supreme Court

J Bhat: That may be true for SC/STs. There are communities backward in some states. There is an element of individual also.

Sr. Adv. Niranjan Reddy (for AP): If 60% group is advanced, they're not backward. 20% reasonably advanced, 10% not so advanced. 

AP: Because he didn't belong to a homogeneous group, he won't get advantage.

AP: In general category, every single disadvantage other than social stigmatization- a child may be studying in a village, his father may be a drunkard for all we know- within the GC, this child will have to compete with children from affluent sections.

AP: They don't constitute homogeneous group. In this disparaged group, there is gross inequalities because of economic disadvantage suffered by them.

AP: Even Indra Sawhney says that amongst the sections that have social backwardness, economic advancement can take away the disadvantage of backward classes. So if economic criteria can be a factor to decide if a person remains backward, it can also decide if a person is Backward

AP: It may not be relevant for 15(4), but economic criteria by itself can be a relevant criteria and apropos the specification of economic criteria would not destroy the basic structure.

AP: If the manner of exercising it is not proper, your lordships can strike it. 

AP: In any case, nothing stops the parliament from introducing backwardness unless it destroys basic feature.

AP: 340 uses the word educational and social backwardness. It was stated that social backwardness included economic backwardness and that is why economic backwardness was not introduced separately.

AP: Under 15(4) they used classes- Because they wanted to introduce diversity. In 16(4) also there is classes.