'Only Parliament Can Change SC List' : Supreme Court Dismisses PIL To Add Are-Katika Community In Scheduled Castes Category

Saying that only the Parliament has the power to do so, the Supreme Court today refused to entertain a public interest litigation seeking inclusion of the Are-Katika (Khatik) community in the Scheduled Castes (SC) category all across India.

A bench of Justices BR Gavai and AG Masih heard the matter and dismissed the petition as withdrawn. The bench told the petitioner that the Courts do not have the power to make additions or alterations to the Scheduled Caste list.

"How is such a petition tenable? The issue is so concluded by so many judgments of the Supreme Court. You should think atleast...we can't even make an alteration...we can't direct a comma..." Justice Gavai said to the petitioner's counsel.

When the petition was sought to be withdrawn with liberty to approach the High Court, Justice Gavai shot back that the High Court also does not have jurisdiction to grant the relief sought. "It is only the Parliament that can do it...so well settled...comma, entry nothing can be changed [by us]", the judge said.

Notably, while refusing to entertain the petition, Justice Gavai also referred to the case of Manipur, where a 2023 High Court direction to the state to consider inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes list led to riots and unrest. Later, pursuant to a review petition, the High Court direction was subsequently deleted.

Briefly put, the petitioner filed the PIL stating that the Are-Katika (Khatik) community, ie a community of Hindu butchers, holds a lower status in the caste hierarchy. Due to their profession (slaughtering of sheep and goats, and selling of mutton), the community members, who live near their slaughter houses, are isolated from mainstream society.

While in some states (northern), the community falls under the SC category, in others, it falls under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category. As per the petitioner, this results in a situation where if a community member transfers (due to marriage, profession, etc.) from a state that gives SC status to one that does not, the members lose their SC status and their children are deprived of the same.

The petition mentioned that the proposal for inclusion of the community in the SC Category was considered for the first time by Office of Registrar General of India in 2006, but not supported citing lack of proper ethnographic data. In 2021, the petitioner sent a request to the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Govt of India, and thereafter, several reminders, however its proposal was not approved.

Case Title: TELANGANA STATE ARE-KATIKA (KHATIK) SANGH Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 141/2025

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