Supreme Court Invalidates Bihar’s 2015 Decision to Reclassify Tanti-Tantwa Caste as SC
The Supreme Court has annulled the Bihar government’s decision to reclassify the Tanti-Tantwa caste from the list of Extremely Backward Classes to the Scheduled Caste (SC) list by merging it with the Pan/Sawasi caste [Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar Vichar Manch Bihar, Patna and anr v. The State of Bihar and Ors].
A Bench comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Prashant Kumar Mishra determined that the State government had overstepped its authority by altering the SC list, which is governed by Article 341 of the Constitution of India.
“The State may be justified in deleting ‘Tanti-Tantwa’ from the Extremely Backward Classes list on the recommendation of the State Backward Commission, but beyond that to merge ‘Tanti-Tantwa’ with ‘Pan, Sawasi, Panr’ under Entry 20 of the list of Scheduled Castes was nothing short of mala fide exercise for whatever good, bad or indifferent reasons, the State may have thought at that moment. Whether synonymous or not, any inclusion or exclusion of any caste, race or tribe or part of or group within the castes, races or tribes has to be, by law made by the Parliament, and not by any other mode or manner,” the Court said in its July 15 judgment.
The Tanti-Tantwa community had been earlier categorized as an Extremely Backward Class under the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, and other Backward Classes) Act, 1991. On July 1, 2015, the Bihar government issued a resolution to merge the Tanti-Tantwa community into the SC list based on a recommendation from the State Commission for Backward Classes. This decision aimed to extend SC benefits to the Tanti-Tantwa community and was upheld by the Patna High Court in 2017, but later challenged in the Supreme Court.
The State argued that the 2015 Resolution was merely clarificatory, asserting that both Tanti-Tantwa and Pan-Sawasi (already part of the SC list) should be treated as synonymous due to socio-historical factors. However, the Court rejected this argument, emphasizing that any inclusion in the SC list must be done through a law passed by Parliament.
“We have no hesitation in holding that the Resolution dated 01.07.2015 was patently illegal, erroneous as the State Government had no competence/authority/power to tinker with the lists of Scheduled Castes published under Article 341 of the Constitution,” the Court stated.
Consequently, the Court annulled the State’s July 2015 resolution. Nonetheless, it acknowledged that the fault lay with the State, not the individuals from the Tanti-Tantwa community who had secured jobs through the SC quota following the 2015 resolution. The Court directed that these individuals should be accommodated in positions earmarked for Extremely Backward Classes, without terminating their services or withdrawing benefits already extended to them.
Senior Advocate Indira Jaising represented the appellants, while Senior Advocate Ranjeet Kumar represented the State of Bihar. Senior Advocates Salman Khurshid, Rakesh Dwivedi, and V Giri appeared for the intervenors, with Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati representing the Union of India.
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