Supreme Court Allows Sub-Classification Within Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Overrules 2004 Judgment

A seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, today delivered a judgment allowing sub-classification within Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST) by the state legislature.

The Supreme Court overruled the 2004 E V Chinnaiya judgment by a six to one verdict. E V Chinnaiya had said in his judgment that sub-classification of reservation of Scheduled Castes is not acceptable in recruitments and government jobs.

Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud cited historical evidence in his judgment. He said that Scheduled Tribes are not upper castes. The Chief Justice said that its sub-classification is not a violation of Article 14 of the Constitution. Articles 15 and 16 do not prevent a state from sub-classifying a caste.

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Earlier on February 8 this year, the Supreme Court had reserved its order after hearing arguments of Attorney General R Venkataramani, Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, senior advocate Kapil Sibal and other jurists. The central government has admitted that it is in favor of classification into Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes. In 2004, EV Chinnaiya had said in his decision that only Parliament, and not the state assemblies, can exclude castes considered Scheduled Castes from the President’s list under Article 341 of the Constitution.