Dweep Tulika

New Delhi, April 20: The Supreme Court of India has reiterated that Scheduled Caste (SC) status is restricted to individuals professing Hinduism, Sikhism, or Buddhism, in line with the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The Court clarified that a person belonging to a Scheduled Caste who converts to another religion, such as Christianity or Islam, ceases to be recognised as an SC from the moment of conversion. As a result, such individuals are no longer entitled to reservation benefits or legal protections available under laws including the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act. The ruling came while upholding a lower court decision and reaffirming the existing constitutional framework governing SC recognition. The bench observed that the legal status of Scheduled Castes is explicitly linked to the three specified religions under the Presidential Order issued in 1950. Originally limited to Hindus, the scope of SC recognition was extended to Sikh...

New Delhi, 20 April 2026: The Supreme Court of India has clarified a key aspect of recruitment policy, stating that candidates belonging to Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST), and Other Backward Classes (OBC) are eligible to compete for general (unreserved) category government jobs, provided their selection is based purely on merit. In its clarification, the court emphasized that if a candidate from a reserved category secures marks equal to or higher than the cut-off prescribed for the general category without availing any relaxation—such as age limits, application fee concessions, or qualification criteria—they must be treated as a general category candidate. The ruling reinforces the principle that merit-based selection should remain independent of social category when no reservation benefits are utilized. However, the court also drew a clear distinction regarding the use of reservation benefits. It stated that if a candidate avails any form of relaxation or concession pro...

April 18, 2026 | New Delhi Opposition parties are preparing to write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, urging the immediate implementation of the women’s reservation law passed in 2023 by separating it from the delimitation process. Leaders argue that linking the law’s rollout to delimitation could lead to delays and have called for its enforcement without waiting for constituency reorganisation. The issue was discussed at a meeting held in New Delhi on April 18, 2026, where Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, Mallikarjun Kharge, chaired a gathering of floor leaders from parties aligned with the Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) bloc. During the meeting, there was broad agreement among participating leaders on pressing for the immediate operationalisation of reservation for women in legislative bodies. Opposition leaders reportedly maintained that the law, having already received parliamentary approval, should be implemented without...