Reservation Jurisprudence in India: Sub-Classification, Equality and Constitutional Doctrine

Abstract

Driven by this conviction, the article reflects on the  constitutional voyage of the reservation policy in India from the  lenses of sub-classification, substantive equality, and  Ambedkarite constitutionalism. It depicts how the Supreme  Court has, in its journey from a caste-based social order concept  to the 2024 judgment in the State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh  case, progressively redefined the concept of equality under  Articles 14–16. The work examines the court's transition from  formal to substantive equality and the internal division within  Scheduled Castes and Tribes to identify the unrepresented  weaknesses of the groups. Drawing upon the judicial precedents,  constitutional debates and socio-economic data, it attempts to  answer the question whether the current framework fulfils the  emancipative promise of justice. Also, it examines the effects of  the Davinder Singh case on the creamy layer doctrine and the  middle-class trap that limits the growth of the disadvantaged  groups. It ends with the idea that the reservation system should  turn into a flexible and data-driven model that would be able to  balance the historical redress with present inequities and thus  be in line with Ambedkar's constitutional vision of liberty,  equality, and fraternity.