Judicial Verdicts on Pressures for Questionable Reservations Issues
| DOI | 10.1177/0019556120150304 |
| Published date | 01 July 2015 |
| Author | U.C. Agarwal |
| Date | 01 July 2015 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
JUDICIAL VERDICTS
ON
PRESSURES
FOR
QUESTIONABLE RESERVATIONS ISSUES
U.C. AGARWAL
Some caste-oriented pressure groups have been claiming reservation
for 'backward class' citizens in government jobs and for admissions in
educational institutions. Similarly, pressure groups, comprising
of
others,
i.e. the general category citizens have been resisting such claims for being
discriminatory. These claims and counter-claims ultimately reached the
Supreme Court
of
India for
just
and fair judicial verdict.
After comprehensive examination
of
the troubling reservation issues
from all relevant angles the Apex Court gave its verdict which has generally
been viewed to be positive and fair for all concerned. Some important,
reservation issues and the judicial verdicts
on
these issues have been
highlighted
in
the article briefly, keeping the constraints
of
space in mind.
The objective
of
the Indian state as laid down in the Preamble
of
its
Constitution
is
to ensure to all its citizens:
'JUSTICE, social, economic and political;
LIBERTY
of
thought, expression, belief, faith, worship;
EQUALITY
of
status and
of
opportunity;
and to promote among them all;
FRATERNITY assuring the dignity
of
the individual and the
unity and integrity
of
the Nation'.
The framers
of
free India's Constitution included great personalities
like the Chairman
of
the drafting Committee,
Dr.
B.R. Ambedkar, the first
President oflndia,
Dr.
Raj endra Prasad, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime
Minister oflndia, and Sardar Ballabhbhai Patel, the Home Minister oflndia.
They had deep knowledge and understanding
of
India's long history, its
socio-economic conditions and its caste-based divisive social system. They
were also aware
ofthe
vast disparities that existed in the economic and social
status
of
'We,
the People
of
India'. Hence to treat them all with 'equality'
in the normal sense would have been denying 'justice' to millions
of
poor,
illiterate and socially low ranking sections
of
the people, i.e the SCs, STs
and some others termed as 'backward class'(OBC) in clause (4)
of
Article
16
of
the Constitution.
To
improve the socio-economic conditions
of
the
OBCs, this clause, therefore, allowed the State to provide for reservation
To continue reading
Request your trial