SC Judge Compares Reservation to Train Compartment, Says System Must Include More Classes
Supreme Court Justice Surya Kant compared India’s caste reservation system to a train compartment, stating those already inside resist allowing others to enter, during a hearing on OBC quotas in Maharashtra.
In a sharp observation during Tuesday’s hearing on OBC reservations in Maharashtra’s local body elections, Justice Surya Kant said the country’s reservation system resembles a train compartment, where those who have secured their seats are unwilling to let others in.
“The thing is, in this country, the reservation business has become like a railway. Those who have entered the compartment don’t want anyone else to enter. That is the whole game,” said Justice Kant, while addressing arguments by senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, who represented the petitioner.
The case pertains to whether politically backward and socially backward classes in Maharashtra were properly identified before being granted reservations in local polls.
Justice Kant stressed that the reservation framework should not be confined to particular families or dominant groups. He said that states are constitutionally bound to identify and support more classes that remain marginalised.
He also pointed out that failing to widen the scope of reservation risks repeating historical injustices. “The classification should not be limited. That is against the spirit of the Constitution,” he said.
Justice BR Gavai, set to become the next Chief Justice of India on May 14, has made similar comments in the past, warning against monopolisation within the reservation system.
The apex court on Tuesday directed the Maharashtra State Election Commission to conduct local body elections within four weeks. The court said elections cannot be postponed indefinitely due to the OBC reservation dispute.
A two-judge bench, including Justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta, stated that OBCs would be given the same reservation status as existed before the 2022 commission report, maintaining the earlier quota balance.
Local elections in Maharashtra have been pending since 2021, after the court invalidated a state ordinance granting 27% OBC reservation without a formal inquiry into backwardness.
The OBC reservation issue in Maharashtra has seen years of litigation. In 2021, the Supreme Court struck down the state’s ordinance on OBC quotas, ruling that total reservation for SC, ST, and OBC candidates cannot exceed 50%.
Following this, the Banthia Commission was set up to examine the social and political backwardness of OBCs. The report recommended reinstating earlier quotas, but its legal soundness has been challenged.
In 2022, the Supreme Court ordered status quo on OBC quotas, effectively halting their implementation until further clarity.
