The Supreme Court has backed the constitutional validity of a Tamil Nadu law that offered preferential treatment among the Scheduled Castes (SCs) to socially and educationally backward Arunthathiyars.
The Court held that sub-categorisation within a class was a Constitutional requirement to secure substantive equality.
The Tamil Nadu State Legislature had enacted the Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars Reservation Act, 2009.
It aims to provide the Arunthathiyars reservation in appointments or posts in State services on a preferential basis among the SCs.
The Act has defined Arunthathiyars to include the castes — Arunthathiyar, Chakkiliyan, Madari, Madiga, Pagadi, Thoti, and Adi Andhra — from the list of 76 SCs notified by the President under Article 341 of the Constitution.