NEW DELHI: State government without a clear answer in the Supreme Court regarding the revision of the reservation list of backward classes in Kerala. Chief Secretary Dr V Venu gave an affidavit in this regard yesterday without even specifying whether a caste census will be conducted to update the reservation list. In the affidavit, there is also an attempt to escape from the contempt of court proceedings by pointing out that the central government had conducted the caste census in 2011.

The affidavit of the state government is in the contempt of court petition alleging that the reservation list of socially and educationally backward groups in Kerala is not being updated and socio-economic studies are not being conducted. It is indicated that the government is afraid that the conduct of caste census may be unfavourable to some communities and it may backfire in Lok Sabha elections etc. The Supreme Court will hear the case on February 6.

What Kerala informed the Supreme Court

1. Caste Census was conducted by Central Government. It was completed in 2011. The report was not published. The state had informed the High Court about this.
2. The Central Government is responsible for finalizing the Socio-Economic Study Report. The judgments of the High Court and the Supreme Court are also applicable to the Central Government.
3. Central government was requested in November 2022 to hand over the caste census report. This was to identify Backward classes in Kerala.
4. The Center forwarded the report to the Kerala Commissions for Backward Classes on 25 May 2023 but that report is not helpful to find the Scheduled categories in Kerala.
5. Socio-economic caste figures are not available in the central report. The affidavit also states that states have the power to locate Backward classes

Raised in the petition

The complaint of the petitioners Minority Indians Planning and Vigilance Commission is that even after 30 years of the Indira Sawhney Judgment (Mandal Commission Judgment), there is a deliberate failure to implement the judgment. Upholding OBC reservation in central government jobs, the court also set a limit of 50 percent reservation for socially and educationally backward sections. On September 8, 2020, the Kerala High Court directed the central government to conduct a socio-economic study to identify the backward classes in Kerala and forward its report to the state Commissions for Backward Classes. The Commission shall forward necessary recommendations to the State Government on the basis of that report. The High Court had allowed six months to implement the order back then. The petition filed by the Center against this was dismissed by the Supreme Court. In addition to the time given by the High Court, one more year was granted in June 2021. However, the petition filed in the Supreme Court says that no action has been taken to implement the order so far.