Ram Singh & Ors. v. Union of India
Background
On 4 March 2014, the Union Government issued a notification including the Jat community in the Central List of Other Backward Classes (OBC) for nine states/regions, overriding the National Commission for Backward Classes' (NCBC) advice against such inclusion. A group of writ petitioners (led by Ram Singh) challenged this notification as arbitrary and not based on genuine, updated evidence of social and educational backwardness. Seven other writ petitions raising the same challenge were heard together with this one.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court held that the Union Cabinet's decision to include Jats in the OBC list, overruling the NCBC's reasoned advice, was not supported by adequate or updated material demonstrating backwardness. The Court emphasized that caste alone cannot be the sole criterion for backwardness, and that identification of backward classes must be a continuous, evidence-based exercise responsive to changing social realities, not a matter of political consideration or perception of "lost ground." Finding the NCBC's contrary view better reasoned, the Court quashed the 4 March 2014 notification in its entirety and allowed all the writ petitions.
Lesson Learnt
Government decisions on caste-based reservation must rest on current, objective evidence of social and educational backwardness, not on political considerations or the perceived backwardness of other already-included groups, and courts will strike down such classifications when they override expert advice without a reasoned, evidence-based basis.