JDU MP welcomes SC verdict on subcategorisation of SCs, STs; highlights formation of Mahadalit Commission by Bihar CM Nitish Kumar in 2007

Patna (Bihar) [India], August 10 (ANI): Janata Dal-United (JDU) working president, Sanjay Kumar Jha welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict on the subcategorisation of SCs and STs and highlighted that Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had implemented subcategorisation in Bihar back in 2007, adding that affirmative measures were introduced to support specific groups through the establishment of the Bihar State Mahadalit Commission.

Speaking to ANI on the apex court’s verdict on the subcategorisation of SCs and STs, Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha said, “Bihar CM Nitish Kumar did subcategorisation in 2007. When the Bihar State Mahadalit Commission was formed, affirmative actions were taken for the upliftment of certain sections. It is the right decision.”

Notably, in 2007, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar established the Mahadalit Commission to identify Scheduled Castes (SCs) that were left behind.

The commission’s purpose was to reach out to Dalits beyond the Dusadhs, who were seen as supporters of the Lok Janshakti Party. The Mahadalit category initially excluded some SCs, such as Chamars and Paswans, but was expanded in 2015.

The Justice P Ramachandra Raju Commission recommended in 1997 that SCs be divided into four groups and that reservations be allocated separately for each. The commission also recommended that the creamy layer of SCs be excluded from receiving reservation benefits for public appointments and educational institutions.

The JDU MP was replying to Union Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s statement, saying that there is no provision for creamy layer in SCs and STs reservations in the Constitution.

Vaishnaw said on Friday that there is no provision for creamy layer in SCs and STs reservation in the Constitution drafted by BR Ambedkar, and the NDA government is bound to follow that Constitution.

The Union Minister’s remarks came days after the Supreme Court ruled that states have the power to sub-classify Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs).

The top court had also observed that states can evolve a policy for identifying the creamy layer, even from the SCs and STs to exclude them from the benefit of affirmative action.

Prior to this, the Union Cabinet, chaired by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, held a detailed discussion on the Supreme Court judgment regarding the sub-categorisation of reservations for SCs and STs as outlined in the Constitution.

In a landmark judgement, the Supreme Court on August 1 ruled that states have the power to sub-classify Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) and said that the authority concerned, while deciding if the class is adequately represented, must calculate adequacy based on effective and not quantitative representation.

The Supreme Court ruled by a majority judgement of 6:1 that sub-classification within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SCs and STs) reservation is permissible. As many as six separate opinions were delivered in the case.

The judgement was delivered by the seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, which overruled earlier judgement in the EV Chinnaiah matter, which had held that sub-classification was not permissible because SC/STs form homogenous classes.

The JDU working president also reacted to the bail order of AAP leader Manish Sisodia and said that it is a sub judice matter.

After the Supreme Court granted bail to AAP leader Manish Sisodia, Jha said, “The matter is still in the court. It is sub-judice matter. He (Manish Sisodia has not been acquitted from the case. He has only got the bail from the court.”

AAP leader and Delhi’s former Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia was released on bail from Tihar Jail on August 9 after 17 months in the Delhi Excise Policy case.

Early this morning, Sisodia took to social media to share a photograph of him having his morning tea with his wife. Sisodia captioned it the “first tea of an independent morning.. after 17 months!”

“The freedom that the Constitution has given to all of us Indians as a guarantee of the right to live… The freedom that God has given us to breathe in the open air with everyone,” he said on X in Hindi.

The former Deputy CM was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in February 2023 in connection with the alleged irregularities in the framing and implementation of the now-scrapped Delhi excise policy.