Published on 19 Mar 2025
• In the State of Punjab Vs Davinder singh 2024, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court upheld the constitutional validity of sub-classification in the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe.
• The court has held that sub-classification for the purposes of reservation is part of ‘substantive equality’ as against mere ‘formal equality’.
• The court stated two ground realities:
SCs and STs are not a uniform class: The inclusion in the list of SCs and STs, specified in Article 341 and 342 respectively, does not automatically lead to the formation of a uniform and internally homogenousclass There are differences among the SC/ST and can be classified into different castes/groups.
Underrepresentation of certain castes: The absence of sub-classification has ensured that only a few dominant castes in the reserved categories avail the benefit of reservation.
• Article 341 - The President can specify which castes, races, or tribes are Scheduled Castes in a state or union territory.
•Article 342 - The President can specify which tribes or tribal communities are Scheduled Tribes in a state or union territory.
Sub Categorisation of SC ST
Scheduled Caste
Scheduled Tribe
dalit
article 341
article 342