| Article 341: Scheduled Castes • The President, after consulting the Governor of a State, may specify the castes, races, or tribes deemed to be Scheduled Castes in that State or Union territory via public notification. • Parliament can amend this list by law, adding or removing any caste, race, or tribe, but no changes can be made by subsequent notifications. |
- The Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of a Tamil Nadu law offering preferential treatment among Scheduled Castes (SCs) to socially and educationally backward Arunthathiyars.
- A seven-judge Bench ruled 6:1 that sub-categorization within a class is necessary for substantive equality.
- The Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009, provides reservations for Arunthathiyars in state services and educational institutions.
- The Act defined Arunthathiyars to include the castes — Arunthathiyar, Chakkiliyan, Madari, Madiga, Pagadi, Thoti, and Adi Andhra — from the list of 76 SCs notified by the President under Article 341 of the Constitution
- Sections 3 and 4 stipulate that 16% of SC reserved seats in educational institutions and government posts should be allocated to Arunthathiyars.
- This case was linked with a similar law in Punjab favouring Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs among SCs.
Dig Deeper: Read about the recent Supreme Court judgement which allowed states to subcategories castes in the Scheduled Castes.
