In a significant development, the Supreme Court dismissed petitions on Friday seeking a review of judgment that allowed the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes. During the hearing of the matter, the apex court said there was no error in its earlier judgment.
The top court said that having perused the review petitions, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. "No case for review... has been established. The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed," the court said.
On September 23, Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief Prakash Ambedkar said his outfit has filed a review petition challenging the Supreme Court verdict upholding the sub-classification of Schedule Castes.
In a majority verdict last month, the Supreme Court held 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.
A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud held 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.
A 7-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court, by 6:1 majority, observed that states can identify more backwards among the SC categories and can sub-classify them for giving separate quotas within the quota.
However, the Supreme Court clarified that while allowing sub-classification, states cannot earmark 100% reservation for a sub-class and the states have to justify the sub-classification on the basis of empirical data regarding the inadequacy of representation of the sub-class.
