- (1.) RESERVATION for admission in educational institutions or for public employment has been a matter of challenge in various litigations in this Court as well as in the High Courts. Diverse opinions have been expressed in regard to the need for reservation. Though several grounds have been raised to oppose any form of reservation, few in independent India have voiced disagreement with the proposition that the disadvantaged sections of the population deserve and need "special help". But there has been considerable disagreement as to which category of disadvantaged sections deserve such help, about the form this help ought to take and about the efficacy and propriety of what the government has done in this regard.
(2.) PANDIT Jawaharlal Nehru, who presided over the Congress Expert committee emphasized before the Constituent Assembly that the removal of socio-economic inequalities was the highest priority. He believed that only this could make India a casteless and classless society, without which the Constitution will become useless and purposeless. The Founding Fathers of the Constitution were thus aware of the ripples of inequality present in society, decried the notion of caste and ensured that the Constitutional framework contained adequate safeguards that would ensure the upliftment of the socially and educationally backward classes of citizens, thus creating a society of equals. The interpretation of the term "socially and educationally backward", and its constituent classes, was left for future generations to decide. Regarding equality, Dr. Ambedkar stated in the Constituent assembly : ""we must begin by acknowledging the fact that there is complete absence of two things in Indian society. One of these is equality. On the social plane, we have in India a society based on the principle of graded inequality which means elevation for some and degradation for others. On the economic plane, we have a society in which there are some who have immense wealth as against many who live in abject poverty. " Judge Lauterpacht of the International Court of Justice, writing in 1945, described the importance of the principle of equality in the following words:- "the claim to equality before the law is in substantial sense the most fundamental of the rights of man. It occupies the first place in most written constitutions. It is the starting point of all other liberties. "
(3.) EQUALITY has also been enshrined in various international instruments, such as the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human rights. Its Preamble speaks of "the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family", and of "the equal rights of men and women. " Reservation is one of the many tools that are used to preserve and promote the essence of equality, so that disadvantaged groups can be brought to the forefront of civil life. It is also the duty of the State to promote positive measures to remove barriers of inequality and enable diverse communities to enjoy the freedoms and share the benefits guaranteed by the Constitution. In the context of education, any measure that promotes the sharing of knowledge, information and ideas, and encourages and improves learning, among India's vastly diverse classes deserves encouragement. To cope with the modern world and its complexities and turbulent problems, education is a must and it cannot remain cloistered for the benefit of a privileged few. Reservations provide that extra advantage to those persons who, without such support, can forever only dream of university, education, without ever being able to realize it. This advantage is necessary. In the words of President Lyndon Johnson, "you do not take a person who, for years, has been hobbled by chains and liberate him, bring him up to the starting line and then say, 'you are free to compete with all the others. . . " ;