India’s top court rules to allow caste subclassification. Will it open a ‘Pandora’s box’?

While the ruling could help the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) strengthen ties with less privileged groups, analysts say it also risks “setting off intra-Hindu sub-community rivalries”, creating divisions within the party’s base of support. It could also pressure Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, as its stability now depends on coalition partners advocating for a caste-based census.

India’s Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that subclassification within Scheduled Castes is allowed for the purpose of granting reservations to improve equality, overturning a 2004 judgment that had asserted that Scheduled Castes were a homogenous group.

Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are those considered to be the most socio-economically disadvantaged in India and are officially defined in India’s Constitution to aid equality initiatives. Historically, lower castes have been denied equal opportunity to jobs and education because they were seen as socially inferior.

The latest court ruling said that Scheduled Castes are not a homogenous entity and there are distinct groups within the broader categorisation whose social and economic strata vary, which requires tailored action for different groups by state authorities.

“The court order is going to be of concern to every party. The [ruling] Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was trying to reach the less privileged among the Scheduled Castes, but the identification has to be done, which calls for more data and definitely a caste-based census,” independent political commentator Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay said.

“We don’t have clear data on the number of various sub-castes in various states. It opens a Pandora’s box because on what basis can we say this sub-caste is more empowered than the other,” he said, adding that each state government will need to determine the numbers to decide the proportion of reservations for such groups.