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Monday, Apr 14, 2008
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Caste has divided society: judge

J. Venkatesan

“More people aspiring for backwardness”

Caste has hampered the country’s growth
Any provision for quota is a temporary crutch

New Delhi: The Supreme Court, while upholding the law providing 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in Central higher educational institutions, has lamented that caste had divided this country for ages.

In his separate judgment, Justice R.V. Raveendran, who agreed with Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishan’s reasoning in the main judgment, said: “Caste has divided this country for ages. It has hampered its growth. To have a casteless society will be realisation of a noble dream. To start with, the effect of reservation may appear to perpetuate caste. The immediate effect of caste-based reservation has been rather unfortunate.”

Justice Raveendran said:

“In the pre-reservation era people wanted to get rid of the backward tag — either social or economical. But post reservation, there is a tendency even among those who are considered ‘forward,’ to seek the ‘backward’ tag, in the hope of enjoying the benefits of reservation. When more and more people aspire for ‘backwardness’ instead of ‘forwardness’ the country itself stagnates.

“Reservation as an affirmative action is required only for a limited period to bring forward the socially and educationally backward classes by giving them a gentle supportive push. But if there is no review after a reasonable period and if reservation is continued, the country will become a caste divided society permanently. Instead of developing a united society with diversity, we will end up as a fractured society for ever suspicious of each other.

“While affirmative discrimination is a road to equality, care should be taken that the road does not become a rut in which the vehicle of progress gets entrenched and stuck. Any provision for reservation is a temporary crutch. Such a crutch, by unnecessary prolonged use, should not become a permanent liability.

“It is significant that the Constitution does not specifically prescribe a casteless society nor does it try to abolish caste. But by barring discrimination in the name of caste and by providing for affirmative action, the Constitution seeks to remove the difference in status on the basis of caste. When the differences in status among castes are removed, all castes will become equal. That will be a beginning for a casteless egalitarian society. When a caste is identified as a socially and educationally backward caste, it becomes a socially and educationally backward class only when it sheds its creamy layer.”

Referring to the total number of castes in the OBC list, Justice Arijit Pasayat, in his judgment (for himself and Justice C.K. Thakker) said “admittedly there is no deletion from the list of OBCs. It goes on increasing. Is it that backwardness has increased instead of decreasing? If the answer is ‘yes,’ as contended by the respondents [Centre and others] then one is bound to raise eyebrows as to the effectiveness of providing reservations or quotas.”

The court asked the Centre to deliberate whether the reservation policy followed since Independence had been effective in achieving the desired result. If after nearly six decades the objectives had been achieved, necessarily the need for its continuance warrants deliberations.

The CJI, heading a five-judge Constitution Bench, in his judgment rejected the contentions of the petitioners that the practice in the United States of putting “suspect legislation” to “strict scrutiny test” could not be applied to Indian situations to examine the 93rd Constitution Amendment Act enabling the government to make a law providing for reservation.

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