The News Freedom
New Delhi, February 7
The Central government robustly defended reservation for marginalized classes in India before the Supreme Court on Wednesday, expressing support for sub-classifications within Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Scheduled Castes (SCs). Solicitor General (SG) Tushar Mehta made the submission before a bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) DY Chandrachud. Highlighting the government’s commitment to the reservation, SG Mehta stressed the importance of sub-classification, addressing concerns raised by the Court.
The case under scrutiny questions the legality of sub-classifying reserved communities like SCs and STs, stemming from the Punjab legislative assembly’s 2006 law, the Punjab Scheduled Caste and Backward Classes (Reservation in Services) Act, which was invalidated by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
Subsequently, the Punjab government appealed to the Supreme Court, initially before a three-judge bench and later before a five-judge bench. In August 2020, the matter was referred to a seven-judge bench after the disagreement over the decision in the EV Chinnaiah case, which deemed caste sub-categories unconstitutional.
During yesterday’s hearing, the Supreme Court orally observed that Punjab’s law on sub-classification within reserved categories might have aimed to exclude communities already benefiting from existing relaxations.