Reservation business like train journey, says SC judge Surya Kant

A Supreme Court judge on Tuesday (May 6) said that caste-based reservation in the country has become like a train journey in a general compartment, where passengers who have already secured seats not only try to prevent others from getting seats but do everything in their power to stop them from entering the compartment.

The remarks were made while Justice Surya Kant was hearing a case regarding OBC reservations for the local body elections in Maharashtra.

Petitioner's argument

Appearing for the petitioner, senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan argued that the reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category was granted by the state's Banthia Commission without properly determining whether they were politically backward.

He further submitted that political backwardness was a different issue from social and educational backwardness adding that OBCs can’t be automatically presumed to be politically backward.

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What the judge said?

Responding to the argument, Justice Surya Kant compared the reservation system in the country to a train journey. "The thing is, in this country, the reservation business has become like a railway. Those who have entered the bogie, they don't want anyone else to enter. That is the whole game. That is precisely the game of the petitioner also,” he said as quoted by Live Law.

To this, the petitioner's lawyer quipped, "And bogies are being added at the back also.”

Pointing out that even though there are socially, politically and economically backward classes in the country, Justice Surya Kant wanted to know why should they be denied the benefits of reservation.

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"When you follow the principle of inclusivity, the states are bound to identify more classes. There will be social backward class, politically backwards class, and economically backward classes. Why should they be deprived of the benefit? Why should it be confined to one particular family or groups?" Justice Kant said in an oral remark.

The bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice NK Singh said during the hearing that local bodies elections in Maharashtra were already long overdue and could not be delayed further due to the issue of OBC reservations.

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Local polls stalled

The local body elections in Maharashtra, last held in 2016-17, are getting delayed due to a legal battle over quota for OBC candidates. The Supreme Court in 2021 struck down a Maharashtra government ordinance to implement a 27 per cent quota for OBCs.

The top court set a three-fold criteria for the purpose. First, a dedicated commission has to be set up to conduct contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness in local bodies of the state.

Second, the proportion of reservation, required to be provisioned in local body wise in the light of recommendations of the commission has to be specified.

Third, the total reservation for SCs, STs, OBCs must not exceed 50 per cent. The local polls have been stalled since then due to the delay in data collection and long-drawn litigation.