Community and the Law: Caste, Tribe and a Plural Society

In one line

The Constitution does not use the word community; it names three groups, and knowing exactly which is which is half the marks in this topic.

In the wording a student can write in an exam: the Constitution recognises three groups for the purposes of protective provision: the Scheduled Castes, specified under article 341; the Scheduled Tribes, specified under article 342; and the socially and educationally backward classes, referred to in articles 15(4) and 15(5) and, as backward classes of citizens, in article 16(4), with the list of socially and educationally backward classes for the Union now specified under article 342A. To these the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act 2019 added the economically weaker sections, under articles 15(6) and 16(6). The protective apparatus consists of the equality articles, the abolition of untouchability, the Directive Principle in article 46, and the political and institutional safeguards in articles 330 to 342A.

The three groups, and the fourth

The Scheduled Castes. Article 341(1): the President may with respect to any State or Union Territory, and where it is a State after consultation with the Governor, by public notification specify the castes, races or tribes or parts of or groups within castes, races or tribes which shall for the purposes of this Constitution be deemed to be Scheduled Castes in relation to that State or Union Territory. Article 341(2): Parliament may by law include in or exclude from the list any caste, race or tribe or part or group, but SAVE AS AFORESAID a notification issued under clause (1) shall not be varied by any subsequent notification.

The second half of article 341(2) is the operative one. Once the President has notified a list, only Parliament can change it. That single sentence decided E.V. Chinnaiah and framed the argument in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh.

The Scheduled Tribes. Article 342 is in identical terms for tribes and tribal communities.

The socially and educationally backward classes. Not specified by the Constitution at all until 2018. Article 340 empowers the President to appoint a Commission to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes; article 15(4) and article 15(5) permit special provision for them; article 16(4) speaks of "any backward class of citizens" which in the opinion of the State is not adequately represented in the services. The Constitution (One Hundred and Second Amendment) Act 2018 inserted article 338B, the National Commission for Backward Classes, and article 342A, under which the President specifies the socially and educationally backward classes; the One Hundred and Fifth Amendment of 2021 clarified that the States retain their own power to prepare their own lists.

The economically weaker sections. Articles 15(6) and 16(6), inserted in 2019, defining them by reference to family income and indicators of economic disadvantage notified by the State, and expressly EXCLUDING the classes already covered by articles 15(4), 15(5) and 16(4).