Lok Janshakti Party (Ram Vilas) will appeal against the Supreme Court verdict allowing sub-classification of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes for providing reservations in government jobs and education, said party leader and Union minister Chirag Paswan on Saturday, reported PTI.

On Thursday, a seven-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice DY Chandrachud in a 6:1 majority verdict overruled the court’s 2004 judgement, which held that Scheduled Castes formed a homogenous group and hence could not be subdivided into categories.

Four of the seven judges also called for the identification of the creamy layer among the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes categories so that they could be removed from the reservation matrix.

“Our party will go for an appeal requesting the Supreme Court to review its recent judgement allowing sub-groups within the 15% Scheduled Caste quota,” Paswan told reporters. “Creamy layer cannot be allowed in the Scheduled Caste quota.”

He added: “Allowing sub-groups within SC quota will not serve the purpose of uplifting the socially marginalised segment that has been a victim of the practice of untouchability.”

Paswan also said it was surprising that “the word untouchability does not even find a mention in the Supreme Court judgement,” PTI reported.

He said that there are several prominent persons from the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities who, despite achieving a certain economic and professional level, are subjected to untouchability.

“This discrimination is not based on how well you are doing financially or how successful you are in your field,” he said. “This is happening because there are still people who believe and practice untouchability.”

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