Supreme Court To Examine Petition For 'Income-Based' Reservation System

The Supreme Court on Monday agreed to examine a PIL seeking direction to the Centre to frame policies for a more equitable system of reservation in government employment.

A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi issued notice to the Centre and sought their response by October 10 on the PIL filed by Ramashankar Prajapati and Yamuna Prasad.

The bench asked the petitioner's counsel to be ready to face lots of opposition as the PIL might have far-reaching impact.

The PIL filed through advocate Sandeep Singh said the approach would strengthen Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution and ensure an equitable opportunity without altering existing quotas.

The plea said despite decades of reservation, the most economically deprived were often left behind with benefits captured by the relatively better-off within reserved categories and prioritisation by income would ensure help starts where it was most needed today.

"The petitioners who belong to the Scheduled Caste (SC) and Other Backward Classes (OBC) categories, by way of the present petition, seek to highlight the economic disparities within these communities, which have led to an inequitable distribution of benefits under the existing reservation policies," the PIL said.

It was argued while the reservation framework was initially introduced to uplift the historically disadvantaged communities, the current system disproportionately benefits those belonging to relatively well-off economic strata and high social status backgrounds within these groups, thereby leaving the most economically deprived members with limited access to opportunities.

"Petition calls for an urgent need to integrate economic criteria into the reservation policy to ensure that benefits are conferred upon those who genuinely require state support. This reform proposal does not seek to abolish or undermine caste-based reservations but rather to refine them to serve their intended purpose more effectively," it said.

The PIL said by introducing an income-based prioritisation mechanism within SC, ST reservations, the proposed framework aims to prioritise opportunities for the most disadvantaged persons amongst the SC-ST communities.

"The necessity of such an approach stems from the fact that over the past 75 years, reservations have disproportionately benefited a select few within the reserved categories, creating intra-community economic disparities and failing to achieve holistic upliftment," it said.

The petition added that the quota system was established as a tool for social justice, aimed at rectifying centuries of discrimination and socioeconomic deprivation faced by marginalised communities.

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