On reservations for EWS: a test for law and justice

Source: The post is based on an article “On reservations for EWS: a test for law and justice” published in The Hindu on 28^th September 2022.

Syllabus: GS 2 –

News:  The Supreme Court has reserved its verdict on a batch of pleas challenging the validity of the 103rd constitutional amendment.

What is 103rd constitutional amendment act?

However, this act has been challenged in the SC and various arguments have been put forward for the opposition.

Why this act has been challenged in the Supreme Court?

According to the petitioners, the amendment violates the Constitution’s basic structure. They believe that the amendment destroys the Constitution’s idea of equal opportunity.

Whereas, the government argues that the Constitution demands equality and there are multiple ways of providing equality. The govt. says that the power to amend include a power to decide how to guarantee equal status to all persons.

What was the rationale behind the reservation?

Reservations were first introduced by some of the princely states as an alleviative measure. At that time almost all government posts in the British India government were filled by the privileged castes. Thus, a system of reservations was introduced denominating communities as “Backward Classes”.

There were debates over reservations when the Constitution was being drafted. The Constitution makers saw reservation as a tool that will help assimilate the depressed class to rise and be equal with the privileged class into public life. Marc Galanter has called this a compensatory discrimination principle.

The rationale remained the same behind the introduction of the 1st Constitution’s amendment in 1951 which allowed the state to make special provisions beyond reservations in public employment.

SC in the State of Kerala v. N. M. Thomas (1975) case held that reservations based on social and educational backwardness, ought to be seen as an intrinsic facet of the idea of equality.

Therefore, it seems that 103^rd amendment act has not served the purpose of reservation.

How does 103^rd amendment is against the idea of equality defined in the Constitution?

Reservations based on the economic criteria doesn’t place people into a definite group requiring special privileges.

This would eventually lead to dominant caste to retain their position in the administration.

Therefore, 103rd amendment act infringes the purpose of equality defined by the Constitution.