Supreme Court Upholds State Power to Sub-Classify SCs/STs

The Supreme Court has dismissed review petitions challenging its decision allowing states to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. Led by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, the ruling permits differentiation based on adequacy of representation and social backwardness, maintaining that caste-based reservations must serve broader equality goals.

The Supreme Court has recently dismissed petitions seeking a review of its verdict on the authority of states to sub-classify Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs). This decision was rendered by a seven-judge bench headed by Chief Justice of India, DY Chandrachud.

In the dismissal, the court noted no apparent error in its original judgment from August 1, where it ruled by a 6:1 majority that sub-classifying within SC/ST reservations is permissible. This overruled previous judgments in cases like EV Chinnaiah, which had deemed such subclassification impermissible due to the homogeneity of SC/ST groups.

Chief Justice Chandrachud's judgment argued that Article 14 of the Constitution allows the sub-classification of groups not similarly situated. The court emphasized that the state must gather data on the inadequacy of representation to validate sub-classification under Article 16(4), aiming to enhance inclusion and equality in alignment with constitutional requirements.

(With inputs from agencies.)