Constitution Bench to examine validity of extending reservation of seats for SCs/STs in LS, Assemblies

Subject: Polity

Section: Constitution

Context:

A Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud decided to examine if clockwork extensions granted to reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) in the Lok Sabha and the State Legislative Assemblies was constitutionally valid.

Reservation of Scheduled caste and schedule Tribes:

131 out of 543 seats of Lok Sabha are reserved for SC/ST communities. This is approx. 24% of all seats in Lok Sabha.
84 seats are reserved for SC and 47 seats (increased from 41 during 15th Lok Sabha elections) are reserved for ST.
Article 243D provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Panchayat.
Article 233T provides reservation of seats for SCs and STs in every Municipality.
Article 335 of the constitution says that the claims of STs and STs shall be taken into consideration constituently with the maintenance of efficacy of the administration.

Article 344 of the Part XVI of the Indian constitution:

Article 334 of the Constitution mentions the special provision of reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, and the special representation of the Anglo-Indian community by nomination in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies to cease after a certain period.

What does the constitution says about reservation:

Originally, the Constituent Assembly under Dr. B.R. Ambedkar had meant reservation for SCs/STsonly for a period of 10 years from the commencement of the Indian Constitution in 1950.
But several amendments (from 8th amendment in 1969 to 104 amendment 2019) to Article 334of the constitution extended the reservation every time for the next 10 years.
The 2019 Actterminated the reservation for the Anglo-Indian community and fixed 2030as the deadline to end the reservation for SCs/STs in the Lok Sabha and State Legislative Assemblies.

What will the constitutional bench examine?

The Constitution Bench will examine whether the Parliament can use its constituent power to repeatedly amend Article 334 merely in order to keep reservation of seats for the SC/ST communities in the Lok Sabha and the Legislative Assemblies of the States alive.
The Constitution Bench also comprising Justices A.S. Bopanna, M.M. Sundresh, J.B. Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
The petition has argued that these periodic extensions of reservation amounted to a violation of the fundamental right to equality under Article 14 of the Constitution.