New Delhi. The Supreme Court has given a major decision on the issue of reservation for Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The court said that sub-categories can be created among Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The seven-member constitutional bench of the Supreme Court gave this decision 6/1. 6 judges including CJI Chandrachud showed support on this, while Justice Bela Trivedi disagreed with it.
The Supreme Court said in its decision, ‘However, despite reservation, people from the lower class face difficulty in leaving their profession. The basis of this sub-category is that one group among a larger group faces more discrimination.’
Justice Gavai cited Ambedkar’s speech
Justice BR Gavai, who was part of this constitutional bench of 7 judges, cited BR Ambedkar’s speech on the need for social democracy. Justice Gavai said that it is the duty of the state to give priority to backward communities, only a few people from the SC/ST category are taking advantage of reservation. Along with this, he said, ‘The ground reality cannot be denied that there are such categories within SC/ST, which have been facing oppression for centuries.’
This decision of the Supreme Court has overturned the decision of 5 judges given in 2004. The Supreme Court had said in its 2004 decision that the states do not have the right to divide the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes into sub-categories for providing reservation. However, now this decision of the Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court will mean that the state governments will have the right to create sub-categories among the Scheduled Castes and Tribes.
Tags: SC Reservation, Supreme Court
FIRST PUBLISHED : August 1, 2024, 10:50 IST