The Supreme Court on Thursday approved the sub-quota in the 15 percent reservation given to the Scheduled Castes. Giving the decision by a majority of 6-1, the court said that the states have the basis for classification of SC reservation on the basis of caste. This reservation can be separately classified for those castes which have remained backward and are being discriminated against more. Not only this, during the hearing, Justice Pankaj Mithal said that only the first generation should get reservation in any category. Along with this, he said that it is a proper idea to classify reservation in SC and ST.

Justice Pankaj Mithal said that it should be reviewed whether the second generation has come to the level of general category after getting reservation or not. If such a situation arises, then reservation should not be given after one generation. During the hearing of this important case, Chief Justice DY Chandrachud said that there is no uniformity in the Scheduled Caste category. There are variations in it too. However, in the bench of 7 judges, Justice Bela M. Trivedi alone had a different opinion. She said that Scheduled Caste category gets reservation on the basis of class and not caste.

Justice Mithal explained why the second generation should not get the benefit of quota

Justice Mithal said that reservation should be given only to the first generation in any category. After this, the second generation should not get this benefit. Chief Justice Chandrachud said that due to discrimination in the system, SC and ST classes could not achieve heights. But Article 14 of the Constitution allows sub-classification. He said, ‘Historical facts show that there have been differences even in the neglected class and they have had to live in different social conditions. If we talk about Madhya Pradesh, out of 25 castes, only 9 are in SC. We have also seen that there is no uniformity in this class as well.’

Justice Gavai also remembered Bhimrao Ambedkar

The Chief Justice said that if a society is neglected, then its representation cannot be denied. In this case, Justice BR Gavai referred to BR Ambedkar. He said that Ambedkar used to say, ‘We have to become a social democracy. Political democracy is not so much needed.’ He said that even in the Scheduled Castes, every class has to face different types of discrimination. He said, ‘It can be said that a party will use the sub-quota for political gain, but I do not agree. The real objective should be equality. A proper study must be done for this decision.’