ARTICLE 342 A

ARTICLE 342 A

Subject : Polity

Context : Various petitioners argue (Maharashtra reservation case )in the Supreme Court that Maharashtra did not have the legislative competence to add the Maratha community to the list of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) after the 102nd Amendment to the Constitution of India.

Concept :

• Article 342 A was added by 102nd amendment in 2018. It states that,
• The President may with respect to any State or Union territory, and where it is a State, after consultation with the Governor thereof, by public notification, specify the socially and educationally backward classes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be socially and educationally backward classes in relation to that State or Union territory, as the case may be.
• Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the Central List of socially and educationally backward classes specified in a notification issued under clause (1) any socially and educationally backward class, but save as aforesaid a notification issued under the said clause shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.