Reservations in India are like a train compartment: Those inside don't want others to come in says SC
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and N Kotiswar Singh made the remarks while hearing a plea opposing the other Backwards Class (OBC) reservations in Maharashtra local body elections.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, appearing for petitioner Mangesh Shankar Sasane, submitted that Maharashtra government's Jayant Kumar Banthia-led commission gave 27 per cent reservations to OBCs in the local body elections without actually ascertaining if they were politically backward.
Justice Kant turned to Sankaranarayanan, "The thing is, in this country, the reservation business has become like a railway. Those who have entered the compartment don't want anyone else to enter. This is the whole game. That is precisely the game of the petitioner also."
Sankaranarayanan said compartments were being "added at the back also" and submitted political backwardness was distinct from social and educational backwardness, and the OBCs couldn't be automatically presumed to be politically backward. "Within the OBCs, politically backward and socially backward classes should be identified for the purpose of reservations," he said.
Justice Kant said when one follows the principle of inclusivity, states were 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 group?" he added.
The top court issued notice on the plea and sought the state government's response while tagging the matter with the pending ones.
Maha local body polls
In the meantime, in another matter over OBC reservations in Maharashtra local bodies the bench ordered the state election commission to notify the polls in four weeks which are to be held in line with the period before the 2022 Banthia Commission report.
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