BJP's Ally Big Remark After Supreme Court's Order On Creating Sub-Groups Of SC-ST

Patna: BJP ally at the Centre and Union minister Chirag Paswan has said that the Supreme Court's latest ruling of creating sub-groups within the Scheduled Caste (SC) is not justified. The Lok Janshakti Party-Ram Vilas (LJP) chief while opposing the apex court judgement allowing states to create sub-groups within SC for a slice of the 15 per cent quota said that the word untouchability does not even find a mention in the court's order and added that they will appeal against it.

In a presser in Patna, Chirag Paswan said he was in favour of a caste census but is also of the view that its findings "must not be made public". The Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi has been aggressively demanding the government for a caste census in the country.

"Our party will go for an appeal requesting the apex court to review its recent judgement allowing sub-groups within 15 per SC quota," he said.

"Creamy layer cannot be allowed in SC quota. Allowing sub-groups within SC quota will not serve the purpose of uplifting the socially marginalised segment that has been a victim of the practice of untouchability," he added.

The Hajipur MP, whose late father Ram Vilas Paswan was among the tallest Dalit leaders of the country, expressed surprise that "the word untouchability does not even find a mention in the apex court judgement".

"The majority of Scheduled Caste people, even those coming from well-to-do families and having access to education, face untouchability. Therefore, allowing sub-groups within SC is not justified," he said.

Paswan, however, refused to comment on the stand taken by his alliance partner JD(U) over the issue, which has hailed the verdict as a "vindication" of policies of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar who had years ago created the "Mahadalit" category in the state. He was also asked about the demand for a caste census which has of late rocked Parliament.

"I think we should have a caste census. But findings of the same must not be made public. The data collated should be used by the government for framing policies," added Paswan, without elaborating further.

With inputs from PTI