Tag: Polity

Context: Supreme Court holds that Sub Categorisation within a class is a constitutional requirement to secure Substantive equality if the social position of the constituents is not comparable. Backgroud: Article 341 of the constitution allows the President, through a public notification, to list as SC "castes, races or tribes" that suffered from the historical injustice of untouchability.SC groups are jointly accorded 15% reservation in education and public employmentBut some groups within the SC list have been underrepresented.In 1975, Punjab issued a notification giving first preference in SC reservations to the Balmiki and Mazhabi Sikh communities.This was challenged in 2004 after the apex court struck down a similar law in Andhra Pradesh in EV Chinnnaiah case.The court had held that any attempts to create a differentiation within the SC list would essentially amount to tinkering with it, for which the Constitution did not empower states.Article 341 only empowers the President to issue such a notification, and Parliament to make additions or deletions to the list.The Court also said that Sub-Classifying SCs violates the right to equality under Article 14 6:1 Majority judgment: The majority judgement overruled a 2005 verdict in the E.V. chinnaiah case.Scheduled Castes notified by the President under Article 341(1) was composed of Heterogenous groups of castes with varying degrees of backwardness.Thus, the state in exercise of the power under Article 15(4) and 16(4) can further classify the Scheduled Castes if there is a rational principle for differentiation.If the rational principle has a nexus with the purpose of sub-classification.States have to produce empirical data to support their claim that a sub-class requires more beneficial treatment. Conclusion: The Principle of subclassification will be applicable to Scheduled castes if the social position of the Constituents amoung the castes/groups is not comparable.Sub-categorisation with in a class is a constitutional requirement to secure substantive equality. Exercise: "Try to give 4-5 arguments for and against sub-classification of Caste". Substantative Equality: Substantive equality recognizes that the law must take elements such as discrimination, marginalization, and unequal distribution into account in order to achieve equal results for basic human rights.Affirmative Action: Affirmative action seeks to reverse historical trends of discrimination against individuals with certain identities.

Tag: Polity

Sub-Classification of Caste

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