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The State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh

Civil Appeal · 2020 INSC 512Decided 27 Aug 2020
Civil Appeal No. 2317 of 2011
Justice Arun Mishra · Justice Indira Banerjee · Justice Vineet Saran · Justice M.R. Shah · Justice Aniruddha Bose

Background

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. A Punjab law reserved half the Scheduled Caste quota for the Balmiki and Mazhabi Sikh communities. Its validity depended on E.V. Chinnaiah v. State of A.P. (2005), which held that the Scheduled Caste list cannot be sub-classified.

Decision Breakdown

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The five-judge bench expressed the view that sub-classification should be allowed and disagreed with E.V. Chinnaiah. Because that case was also decided by five judges, it could not overrule it, and asked the Chief Justice to place the matter before a bench of seven or more judges.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet. Whether States can sub-classify Scheduled Castes was left to a larger bench.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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