‘SC direction contrary to federal structure’

Legal experts seek review of judgment

The Supreme Court’s direction on capping reservation to 50% has left several questions unanswered, and the judgment may require review, legal experts point out. On the order giving the Centre the power to decide on the list of backward classes, Karnataka High Court judge justice H.N. Nagmohan Das (retd) said: “There are 4,635 castes/sub castes in the country according to the Anthropological Survey of India. Is it possible for the country to have a single uniform list? Some castes found in one State may not be elsewhere. This is also contrary to the federal structure to snatch away the power of the State with respect to the OBC list.” Former chairman of Karnataka Backward Classes Commission C.S. Dwarkanath also concurred with justice Das, and asked how the Centre could conduct ethnological studies. “There are State-specific castes and there is already so much confusion,” he said.