The government pushed for reservation in promotion for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in government services before the Supreme Court on Thursday, saying the stigma of their caste is still printed on their foreheads and affirmative action is needed to provide them equal opportunity.
On the final day of hearing before a five-judge Constitution Bench led by Chief Justice of India Dipak Misra, Attorney-General K.K. Venugopal submitted that SC/ST community members continue to face discrimination in some form or the other.
“They have suffered a thousand years of discrimination and still do,” Mr. Venugopal submitted before the Bench also comprising Justices Kurian Joseph, Rohinton Nariman, Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Indu Malhotra.
Justice Kurian asked when a caste or a group can be taken out of the backward list. “The moment they cease to be backward, Parliament takes them out. As long as they are in the list, they are presumed to be backward,” Justice Kurian observed orally.
The government wants a larger Bench of the Supreme Court to set aside its 2006 judgment in the Nagaraj case. The Bench reserved the case for verdict.