Quotas help maintain efficiency, observes SC

The Indian Constitution does not postulate that people belonging to marginalised groups are inefficient while those from other groups are competent, a seven-judge bench of the Supreme Court observed on Tuesday, adding reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (SC/ST) was consistent with the need to maintain efficiency in administration.

- Utkarsh Anand

'Quotas promote efficiency: 7-judge bench starts hearing

NEW DELHI: "It depends how you define efficiency. If you define efficiency in an inclusive sense, then the inclusion of people who have hitherto been excluded from governance promotes efficiency. Also, putting people from the marginalised communities in important positions of responsibility itself is receptive to the needs of those communities and to the need for inclusion as a social doctrine. Therefore, it's not something that detracts from efficiency," said the bench led by Chief Justice of India (CJI) Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud.

On Tuesday, the Constitution bench, also comprising justices BR Gavai, Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra and Satish Chandra Sharma, commenced the hearing on the permissibility of subclassification within the SC/ST reservation as it made some significant remarks on the purpose of reservation for marginalised groups and the requirement of maintaining efficiency in administration.

Article 335 of the Constitution states that the claims of the members of SC/ST groups shall be taken into consideration "consistently with the maintenance of efficiency of administration" in the making of appointments to services and posts under the Centre or states.

On the first day of hearing, Punjab's advocate general Gurminder Singh and the state's additional advocate general Shadan Farasat argued in favour of subclassification within SC/ST communities to provide preference in quota to Balmikis and Mazhabi Sikhs.