The Supreme Court on Thursday overruled a 2004 decision by a five-judge bench in EV Chinnaiah vs State of Andhra Pradesh, which stated that sub-classification was impermissible on the grounds that Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes constitute homogenous classes.
The apex court ruled that states are empowered to make sub-classifications of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for granting quotas inside the reserved category to uplift more underprivileged castes, reported LiveLaw.
A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud held by a 6:1 majority that the further sub-classification of SCs and STs by states can be permitted to ensure the grant of quota to more backward castes inside these groups.
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"Scheduled Castes are not a homogenous group and governments can sub-classify them to give more weightage in 15 per cent reservation to those who suffered more discrimination among SCs," the court said.
The court further clarified that while allowing sub-classification, the State cannot earmark 100 per cent reservation for a sub-class. Also, the State has to justify the sub-classification on the basis of empirical data regarding the inadequacy of representation of the sub-classes.
According to the judgment, Article 14 of the Constitution permits the sub-classification of a class that is not similarly situated for the purpose of the law.
The SC bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Mishra, and Satish Chandra Sharma has reserved the judgment on February 8 this year after hearing the matter for three days.
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CJI Chandrachud said that there are six judgements all concurring in the case. The majority has overruled the EV Chinniah judgement of 2004 which held that sub-classification is not permissible. Justice Bela Trivedi dissented.
