In the wake of a landmark Supreme Court ruling that permits the sub-classification of Scheduled Castes (SC) for separate quotas, there have been positive reactions from all parties of the state. Especially, Mandakrishna Madiga, a leader of the Madiga Reservation Porata Samiti (MRPS), was visibly emotional as he addressed the media, shedding tears over the long-awaited judgment. The MRPS has been advocating for internal reservations within the SC category for the last 3 decades.
Madiga expressed that justice has finally been served after 30 years of struggle, and he credited the Prime Minister for accelerating the process. He also extended gratitude to key political figures, including Amit Shah, Venkaiah Naidu, Kishan Reddy, and Chandrababu Naidu, for their roles in achieving this outcome. He dedicated this victory to the martyrs of their cause and emphasized that the reservation system is now ready for its next phase. Madiga underscored the necessity of classification in the Telugu states and insisted that job notifications should be issued only after the relevant Government Orders (G.O.s) are released.
During the Telangana Assembly elections, Prime Minister Modi attended an MRPS-organized meeting in Hyderabad, where he promised support for the classification of SCs.
This video is a heartfelt testament to undeniable impact PM Shri @narendramodi Ji has made in uplifting and empowering the Dalits throughout the nation.#BJP4DalitEmpowerment #BJPWithMadigas pic.twitter.com/IUXAkwh9r5
— BJP Telangana (@BJP4Telangana) November 11, 2023
Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy welcomed the Supreme Court’s landmark verdict on SC Sub-classification, announcing on Thursday that the Telangana government would categorize SC sub-castes ABCD in accordance with the ruling.
The Bharata Rasthra Samiti (BRS) party welcomed the Supreme Court’s verdict on SC classification. They expressed joy, stating that today marks the fulfillment of a decades-old dream.
Supreme Court’s Judgment on Sub-classification of Scheduled Castes
In a historic decision, a 7-judge bench of the Supreme Court, by a 6-1 majority, declared that sub-classification of Scheduled Castes is permissible to allocate separate quotas for the more disadvantaged within the SC categories. Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud announced that there are six concurring judgments, with the majority overturning the 2004 EV Chinnaiah judgment, which had previously prohibited such sub-classification. Justice Bela Trivedi dissented.
The bench, which included Chief Justice Chandrachud and Justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma, reserved its judgment on February 8 this year after three days of hearings. The matter was referred to the 7-judge bench by a 5-judge bench in 2020 in the case State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh. The 5-judge bench had noted that the decision in E.V. Chinnaiah v. State of Andhra Pradesh (2005) 1 SCC 394, which held that sub-classification was impermissible, needed reconsideration.
