Supreme Court Issues Notice On PIL Seeking Sub Quota For Economically Weaker Persons Within Reserved Categories

The Supreme Court yesterday issued notice on a public interest litigation seeking priority reservation for economically weaker candidates within categories entitled to reservation in government employment and education processes.A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi passed the order. After dictating the order, justice Kant told the petitioners' counsel to "be ready" for arguments on the next date, as there would be "lot of opposition" from the other side, given a "very strong opinion" on both sides.During the hearing, the petitioners' counsel clarified, "In this PIL, we are requesting that reservation should be prioritized based on economic criteria. We are not disturbing percentage of the reservation...".Hearing her, Justice Kant summarized the issue thus: "You are not saying that reservation should not be caste-based and should be only on economic criteria...you are saying that within the reservation provided under constitution validly on caste base, if some persons by virtue of reservation benefits and with the passage of time, if they social and economic status has been enhanced, then instead of that benefit again percolating to them, they should go to within that community to those who are still waiting in queue...".The judge then expressed inclination to objectively examine that if reservation is intended at upliftment of entire society, should it be confined to some identified groups or can it "spread its wings" to carry in its fold all those who are apprehended to be left behind.Briefly put, the PIL seeks a direction to the government to frame policies for a "more equitable and just system of reservation" in government employment and educational opportunities so as to ensure better distribution of reservation benefits on a merit-cum-means approach.More specifically, the petitioners demand adoption of income-based preferences within each reserved category to ensure equitable distribution of benefits among economically weaker candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), Other Backward Classes (OBC), and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).It is prayed that those belonging to economically weaker sections be treated as a "sub-class" within the reserved categories and accorded higher merit in the selection process, in compliance with the judgment in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh, where a 7-judge bench of the Supreme Court held by a 6:1 majority that sub-classification is permissible to grant separate quotas for more backwards within the Scheduled Castes category.Case Title: RAMASHANKAR PRAJAPATI AND ANR. Versus UNION OF INDIA AND ORS., W.P.(C) No. 682/2025 Click Here To Read/Download Order

Supreme Court Issues Notice On PIL Seeking Sub Quota For Economically Weaker Persons Within Reserved Categories

Debby Jain

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