A petition filed by Ramashankar Prajapati earlier than the Supreme Court highlighted that the present reservation coverage disproportionately benefitted teams inside the SC/ST who had been already well-off and having fun with social clout, whereas probably the most disadvantaged members continued to swirl within the cycle of maximum poverty. File | Photo Credit: The Hindu
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi issued discover to the Union authorities on a petition filed by Ramashankar Prajapati highlighting that the present reservation coverage disproportionately benefitted teams inside the SC/ST who had been already well-off and having fun with social clout, whereas probably the most disadvantaged members continued to swirl within the cycle of maximum poverty.
“There is an pressing have to combine financial standards into the reservation coverage,” Mr. Prajapati, represented by advocates Sandeep Singh and Reena N. Singh, submitted in court docket.
The petition sought the introduction of a two-tier reservation system to be applied inside SC/ST classes, prioritising people from economically weaker sections earlier than extending advantages to those that are comparatively well-off.
‘Reform, not discount in proportion’
“The proposal for restructuring doesn’t contain any discount within the present proportion of reservation for SC/ST or different minority communities… This reform proposal doesn’t search to abolish or undermine caste-based reservations however somewhat to refine them to serve their supposed objective extra successfully by introducing an income-based prioritisation mechanism inside SC/ST reservations,” Mr. Singh argued for the petitioner.
Justice Kant remarked in the course of the listening to that the idea revolved across the capacity of the state to evaluate the financial capability inside the communities. The Bench, itemizing the case on October 10, suggested a cautious dealing of the problem contemplating the sensitivity of the reservation coverage and the probability of divergent views.
The case listening to witnessed the petitioner spotlight a seven-judge Constitution Bench majority resolution of the apex court docket in State of Punjab versus Davinder Singh calling for a singular set of standards to determine and exclude the ‘creamy layer’ amongst SC/ST from reservation advantages.
“The State should evolve a coverage for figuring out the creamy layer even from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in order to exclude them from the good thing about affirmative motion… the factors for exclusion of the creamy layer from SC/ST for the aim of affirmative motion may very well be totally different from the factors as relevant to the Other Backward Classes (OBCs),” Justice B.R. Gavai (as he was then), a member of the seven-judge Bench, had held in August 2024.
Justice Gavai, whose opinion shaped the premise for a push to introduce the creamy layer precept for SC/ST classes, had noticed that the exclusion of the prosperous from quota advantages would alone obtain actual equality.
“In the Constitutional regime, there isn’t any caste system and the nation has moved right into a casteless society aside from the deeming provision below the Constitution for the restricted functions of affording reservation to the depressed class of individuals, downtrodden or belonging to SC/ST/OBC. Therefore, any facility or privilege for the promotion of the above classes of individuals must be on a completely totally different standards aside from the caste could also be on financial or monetary components, standing of dwelling, vocation and the services obtainable to every certainly one of them based mostly upon their place of dwelling (city or rural),” Mr. Prajapati argued in court docket.
The petition argued {that a} small however influential part of SC/ST households has efficiently leveraged reservations to achieve high-ranking authorities positions, monetary stability and high quality training. This has led to “intra-community financial stratification”.
“The comparatively prosperous proceed to learn from reservations on the expense of those that stay in monetary misery,” the petition submitted.
Though political reservations have resulted in vital illustration of SC/ST communities in legislatures, the petition mentioned, financial and academic advantages stay concentrated inside privileged sections of those communities.
“The political empowerment of SC/ST leaders has not essentially translated into widespread socio-economic improvement for your complete neighborhood,” it asserted.
Published – August 13, 2025 10:25 am IST
