The sensitive matter of sub-classifying the backwardness of communities within the scheduled caste category for quota redistribution is one of 250 matters that Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud has decided to dust off. These cases have been referred to either seven-judge or nine-judge benches and have been pending for decades.
The oldest case among the petitions pending before a nine-judge bench is the one between Mineral Area Development Authority and Steel Authority of India - a batch of 84 petitions are pending since 1999. The set of 40 items associated with the case of the State of UP vs. Jai Bir Singh is the second largest of the 177 matters that must be listed phase-by-phase before nine-judge benches.
However, the 73 matters, categorised into six groups and to be heard by seven judge benches, include several important issues - redistribution of quota within SC reservation depending on the backwardness of the communities; reconsideration of the SC’s five judge bench judgment in the Nabam Reba case through which the SC had restrained the Speaker from deciding disqualification petitions against MLAs if a motion for his own removal is pending; and the contentious issue of minority status of Aligarh Muslim University.