Caste Based Reservation in NDA : The Supreme Court on Tuesday (March 8) expressed reluctance to deal with a petition seeking reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes in the National Defense Academy (NDA).
A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and MM Sundar said it is dealing with the issue of women’s inclusion in the NDA and clarified that it will not entertain the petition for caste-based reservation.
The bench was considering the case of Kush Kalra v Union of India, which deals with the inclusion of women in the NDA, in which one Kailash More has filed an intervention application seeking caste-based quota.
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Justice SK Kaul told More, “You cannot apply the principles of civilian employment here. Armed forces are a homogeneous unit. You cannot segregate them on the basis of caste.” The bench said it is presently focusing on gender issues and expressed reluctance to deviate from other issues.
The bench orally observed that caste reservation in military schools could not be allowed. It added that the constitutional provisions for reservation did not work in this way.
“We are focused on gender issues and would not want you to divide it into other issues of caste, etc.,” the bench remarked.
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“A revolution doesn’t come overnight. It takes time. There is a beginning made. Social changes take some time and here, the first chapter has been written. Let the first chapter get over,” the bench further said.
Also, ASG Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the central government told the court that vacancies for women candidates had been created for the military college while the same course would be followed for the military schools as well.
Bhati added that some girls were admitted to Sainik Schools on an experimental basis. “That experiment was successful. But I don’t have the exact data in this regard,” she submitted.
To this the Court asked Bhati to submit the relevant data by the next date of hearing i.e., July 19.
