Supreme Court Raises Doubts on Resolving Caste Allegations, Focuses on Narrow Legal Issue
Last Updated on October 4, 2023 by News Desk
On October 3, a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court expressed scepticism over the possibility of the court resolving caste allegations as a fact-finding court. The case involved a group of appeals that raised the issue of caste claims, and the entire bench of the Supreme Court recently ruled that the “affinity test” is not a necessary component of evaluating the validity of a caste or tribe claim.
The attorney for the State of Maharashtra argued that each civil appeal should be handled separately based on the factual matrix. However, the bench declined to address the issues one at a time, stating that it was unlikely that this court would serve as the fact-finding court.
The Court also believed that a narrow legal issue needed to be decided: whether the appeals should be sent to the High Court or the Screening Committee itself.
The State of Maharashtra’s counsel claimed that each case must take into account the conclusions reached by the court in the decision addressing the reference. The High Court would have to assess each case in light of the Supreme Court’s decision. Judge Kaul questioned who would analyse the concept.
Judge Dhulia confirmed that the issue to be decided in this case is narrow, and the Court will hear from the parties on October 31st based only on that. The screening committee will then determine if the individual is a member of that caste.
Case Title: Mah. Adiwasi Thakur Jamat Swarakshan Samiti vs. State of Maharashtra
Written by: Srijan Raj @raaj_srijan
