Trivialising Justice: Reservation Under The Rule Of Law

Ashok Agrwaal

Abstract

The idea for the paper was born out of a consultation called by the Calcutta Research Group (CRG), on critically engaging with the issue of social justice in India. The discussions ranged over a broad spectrum, from the gritty essence of social justice issues in daily life, to theoretical constructs based upon accepted cannons, to the notion of examining the matter afresh, from first principles. After several false starts, I realised that I was allowing the vastness of the issue to overwhelm me. Finally, I decided to choose a theme and strictly adhere to the limitations imposed by my choice. The result was a critique of what can be called the political economy of justice, in the context of India's policy of reservations for Dalits and Aadivaasis in government employment, as a measure of affirmative action.

The paper seeks to explore the dimensions of social justice discourse in this regard within the highest echelons of the judicial system of India. To this end it dissects two decisions of the Supreme Court, one from the early 1960s, when the discourse was still in its infancy and the second from 2006, by when this discourse had matured considerably. In fact, it has been said by many that the discourse shows marked signs of advanced arterio-sclerosis, with very little sustenance reaching the heart of the matter. The paper examines the validity of this claim.

After a thorough editing of the completed paper, only traces remain of the larger ambitions with which it was started. Though the paper reads much better for the editing, I have deliberately left these traces in, in order to operate as a reminder to me that I am not finished with the subject.

The paper is to be published by SAGE (India) in early 2009 as part of an volume, of which I am one of the co-editors. The book itself is part of a four volume series, whose editor is Professor Ranabir Samaddar of the Calcutta Research Group.