In what may seem like a controversial comment to several anti-caste activists, a bench of Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice P D Audikesavalu of the Madras High Court has questioned the validity of reservations after 75 years of independence. On August 24, the bench said the policymakers should've aimed at "empowering citizens so that merit" is the deciding factor and that the present trend seems to perpetuate the caste system instead of wiping it away by "endlessly extending a measure that was to remain only for a short duration".
"It may, however, be observed as a footnote that the entire concept of reservation that appears to have been addressed by the Constituent Assembly while framing the Constitution may have been turned on its head by repeated amendments and the veritable reinvigoration of the caste system," the bench said. The comments were made while disposing of contempt of court petition filed by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) against the Central government and the Chief Secretary to Government of Tamil Nadu, K Shanmugam.
It is noteworthy that even though the by-product of the reservation scheme may be poverty-elevation, its purpose is to provide representation to the oppressed castes in education and jobs. The Madras High Court ruled that the Centre shouldn't have provided a 10 per cent reservation for economically weaker sections (EWS) of society in the All India Quota medical seats without getting a nod from the Supreme Court.
In the context of reservations as a scheme, the court further said, "Though the life of a nation-state may not be relatable to the human process of ageing, but at over-70, it ought, probably, to be more mature."
