Patana (Keonjhar) August 21The Patana Police baton charged the people protesting in support of a day-long 'Bharat Bandh' on Wednesday against the SC's recent judgement.
A nationwide strike, known as "Bharat Bandh," took place across the country in response to a recent Supreme Court ruling on SC/ST reservations. The Reservation Bachao Sangharsh Samiti announced the Bharat Bandh as a mark of protest against the SC's ruling on SC/ST reservations.
An atmosphere similar to lockdown was also witnessed in Rajasthan's Bikaner district. The people from the SC/ST community mobilised the bandh by forming groups. The police administration on the other hand kept a close watch on the area with full alertness to prevent untoward incident.
The SC/ST people took out a procession from Kote Gate to the collector's office.
The impact of the bandh was also witnessed in Jharkhand's capital city, Ranchi. The roads of Harmu Chowk, Kathal Mode, and Chapu Toli Chowk, were completely blocked. The bandh supporters protested by burning tyres on the road.
The police was also on alert in Uttar Pradesh's Noida where forces were deployed in large numbers. The Joint Commissioner of Police of Noida, Shiv Hari Meena, said that the Police conducted foot marches to ensure that law and order is not disturbed.
"We are also taking care that the general public does not face any kind of problem. The police team is keeping an eye on the people creating anarchism," he added.
Meanwhile, Union Minister Jayant Singh Chaudhary said, "The Supreme Court had commented, after which the Law Minister also clarified it in the Parliament. The Cabinet has also clarified its opinion, so now there is nothing left."
The apex court in a landmark ruling on August 1, had ruled that states have the power to sub-classify SCs and STs and said that the authority concerned, while deciding if the class is adequately represented, must calculate adequacy based on effective and not quantitative representation.
The Supreme Court ruled by a majority judgement of 6:1, that sub-classification within the SCs and STs reservation is permissible. As many as six separate opinions were delivered in the case.
The judgement was delivered by the seven-judge bench led by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, which overruled earlier judgement in the EV Chinnaiah matter, which had held that sub-classification was not permissible because SC/STs form homogenous classes.
Besides CJI Chandrachud, other judges on the bench were Justices BR Gavai,Vikram Nath, Bela M Trivedi, Pankaj Mithal, Manoj Misra, and Satish Chandra Sharma.
Justice BR Gavai suggested that the state evolve a policy for identifying the creamy layer, even from the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes to exclude them from the benefit of affirmative action.
Justice Bela M Trivedi, in a dissenting opinion, said that she disagreed with the majority judgement that sub-classification within the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes is permissible. (ANI)
