The apex court bench of Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice A.K. Patnaik issued the notices after senior counsel R. Venkataramani sought the defining of the power, scope, and ambit of Articles 341 and 342 of the constitution, that deal with the inclusion of a caste or tribe in the scheduled list.
The Petitioner O.P. Shukla, a retired Dalit government official sought from apex court for the exclusion of Chamar, Mala, Mahar, Meena, Dusad and Dhobi communities from the list of SC /ST.
Petitioner sought a review of the list of the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to ensure equitable distribution of benefits of reservation.
The petition said the exclusion of the ‘creamy layer’ from the reserved category was in tune with the recommendations of various commissions and committees set up for purpose and also the law laid down by the apex court.
The petitioner also sought the court’s direction to the central government and states for an equitable distribution of the share of reservation among 99 percent of the most backward Dalits and tribals.
Shukla has sought the implementation of the 1965 Lokur Committee recommendations for the periodic review of the list of SC/ST. This exercise has already been undertaken by Punjab, Haryana and Andhra Pradesh, he said.
The petition said that the reservation policy had been implemented in a ‘lop-sided’ manner by the government, thereby benefiting a few groups and leaving out 99 percent of the targeted people.