Can SC/STs Be Subcategorized To Give Reservations For More Backward Groups? Supreme Court Reserves Judgment

A 7-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court headed by the Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud today culminated the 3 day-long hearing on the issue of permissibility of subclassification within the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for reservations.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). The Bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud also comprises Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma. 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 in E.V.Chinnaiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh, (2005) 1 SCC 394, which held that sub-classification was not permissible, was required to be reconsidered.The state of Punjab was represented by Advocate General Mr Gurminder Singh, along with Additional Advocate General Mr Shadan Farasat. Several senior advocates including Mr. Kapil Sibal, Mr Gopal Sanakaranarayanan, Mr Shekhar Naphade, Former Attorney General Mr Venugopal, Mr. Siddharth Luthra, Mr Salman Khurshid also made their submissions from the petitioners' side. Attorney General for India Mr. R Venkataramani and Solicitor General Mr Tushar Mehta appeared on behalf of the Union, supporting the cause of subclassification in reservations.From the side of respondents, Senior Advocate Manoj Swarup made substantial submissions which were followed by other intervenors including Sr. Advocate Mr Sanjay Hegde amongst a few others. A detailed report on DAY 3 hearing can be read here. Live updates from today's hearing can be read here.Reports From Other Days : Subclassification Necessary To Uplift Most Backward Among Scheduled Castes : State Of Punjab Tells Supreme Court [Day 1]Degree Of Backwardness Within Scheduled Castes May Vary, Says Supreme Court; Centre Supports Subclassification Within SCs/STs [Day 2]

Can SC/STs Be Subcategorized To Give Reservations For More Backward Groups? Supreme Court Reserves Judgment

Anmol Kaur Bawa

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