Article 341 and 342

Subject: Polity

Context:

The Supreme Court has given cogent reasons for a reconsideration of the verdict given by a five-judge Bench in 2004 that State legislatures have no power to create sub-classifications among the list of Scheduled Castes notified by the President

Concept:

• The Bench has disagreed with the formulation in V. Chinnaiah vs. State of Andhra Pradesh (2004)that classifying Scheduled Castes into groups amounts to ‘tinkering’ with the Presidential list.
• Articles 341 and 342, empower the President of India to draw up a list of schedule castes and tribes.
• If such a notification is related to a state, then also President will notify the same. However, it can be done after consultation with the governor of the state
• Any inclusion or exclusion from the presidential notification of any caste, race, or tribe can be done by Parliament by Law.
• If any question arises whether or not particular tribe is a tribe within the meaning of this article one has to look at the public notification issued by the president.