SC to revisit 2004 verdict

Can there be quotas for sub-castes within Scheduled Castes

Can Scheduled Caste sub-castes be given preferential reservation like most backward classes (MBCs) among OBCs?

A 5-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, headed by Justice Arun Mishra, on Thursday answered in affirmative and upheld Punjab's 2016 law as constitutional.

This legislation gave "first preference" to members of the 'Balmiki' Samaj and 'Mazbhi Sikh' communities for securing SC quota in public services.

"Once the State has the power to give reservations, it can also make sub-classifications, which allows them to facilitate reservation for backward classes," ruled the Bench which also comprised Justices Indira Banerjee, Vineet Saran, MR Shah and Krishna Murari.

The case was initially dealt by a 3-judge Bench of Justices RM Lodha, Kurian Joseph and Rohinton Fali Nariman, which referred the matter to a Constitution Bench in August 2014, holding that it involves substantial legal issues concerning reservation, which would require examination by a Constitution bench.

The issue now goes to a larger bench of possibly seven judges to definitively decide the question, since the Thursday ruling contradicts a 2004 judgment by another 5-judge Bench in a similar Andhra Pradesh case of E V Chinnaiah, holding such sub-division unconstitutional on the ground that the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes enlisted under Article 341(1) of the Constitution of India form one homogeneous group and this group cannot be severed into sub-divisions or sub-classifications.

In its judgment on 05.11.2004, a Bench had held that the State Legislature is not competent to make any law to bifurcate the Presidential list of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. This because once put in the Presidential List, the said castes become one homogeneous class for all purposes under the Constitution. It held that any "sub-classification" of the SCs would violate Article 14 and that only Parliament, not state legislature, can exclude castes deemed to be Scheduled Castes from the Presidential