Article 341 Intends To Only Give 'Constitutional Identity' To Scheduled Castes; Not To Hold Them As 'Homogenous Class' : Supreme Court

The Supreme Court in its recent decision allowing sub-classification of Scheduled Castes(SCs), observed that Article 341 does not create a 'deeming fiction' and only bestows a 'constitutional identity' upon those backward communities which are listed as Scheduled Castes. The 7-judge Constitution Bench, by 6:1 majority, held that the purpose of Article 341 was to only give a legal recognition to the communities under the Presidential notification identified as Scheduled Castes and did not intend to hold them as a 'homogenous' class. The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma. Six judges upheld sub-classification, with Justice Trivedi dissenting.The Judgement authored by CJI DY Chandrachud for himself and Justice Misra categorically observed that Article 341 only creates a class of backward communities eligible for the benefit of affirmative action when seen in constrast with the rest of the population. This does not imply that variance of backwardness within the Scheduled Castes or 'heterogeniety' could be overlooked. The Court answered three prelimiary questions - (1) whether Article 341 creates a 'deeming fiction'; (2) In the event that a deeming fiction is created, does the 'legal fiction' under Article 341 create a homogenous class which cannot be further classified; and (3)the scope of Prohibition under Article 341(2) in light of the effect such a legal fiction that Article 341(1) creates. Under Article 341(1), the President of India can officially designate certain groups as Scheduled Castes in any State or Union territory. The said designation of SCs for states has to be done in consultation with the Governor and then be publicly notified. The designation can be done amongst the categories of castes, races, tribes, or their sub-groups.(1) The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification,specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or group within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be.Article 341(2) specifies that the Parliament may by way of a legal enactment 'include' or 'exclude' any caste, race, or tribe or part of such groups from the list of Schedule Catses as notified by the President under sub-clause 1 above. It also provides that such a Presidential notification 'shall not be varied by any subsequent notification'. A key point in the Court's decision was the interpretation of the phrase "deemed to be" in Article 341. The Court explained that this phrase does not always create a legal fiction. Sometimes it simply means "regarded as being." A legal fiction is when the law treats something as true even though it might not be in reality."The use of the phrase “deemed to be” is not conclusive of a legal fiction.The word deemed is used for many purposes, such as for the artificial construction of a word and to clarify uncertain constructions, or plainly just to mean “regarded as being”. A legal fiction is essentially a presumption that certain facts which do not exist in fact, will be treated as real and existing for the purpose of law." There are two core principles laid down by the Court on operation of legal fictions: (1) a legal fiction should only be used for the specific purpose it was created for and its application will be strictly confine the field it was created for. Court relied on the decision of Bengal Immunity Company Ltd v. State of Bihar which held that legal fictions must confine to only their 'legitimate field'. "The first principle is that a legal fiction must be confined to its 'legitimate field', for the specific purpose for which it was created."(2) The second principle address the scope of a legal fiction.It states that the effects of a legal fiction must be extended to include the logical consequences that flow from its creation. Bench here placed relaince on the opinion of Lord Asquith in the case of East End Dwelling Co. Ltd. v. Finsbury Borough Council.According to Lord Asquith's observation, the impact of a legal fiction should not be restricted to simply treating non-existent facts as real. Instead, it must be expanded to understand the effects and consequences that naturally result from the legal fiction. However, the Court clarified that a law creating a deeming fiction cannot create presumptions that are in favour of a specific legal consequence. It can only create presumptions about the facts from which certain legal consequences may follow."The second principle is that the scope of the legal fiction must be extended to the consequences which “logically” flow from its creation. The opinion of Lord Asquith in East End Dwelling Co. Ltd. v. Finsbury Borough Council is the leading case...

Article 341 Intends To Only Give 'Constitutional Identity' To Scheduled Castes; Not To Hold Them As 'Homogenous Class' : Supreme Court

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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