Incredible Story of Social Justice in India

Despite a decade has passed since the Mandal judgement the problem of identification of Other Backward Classes has not been solved. There are two aspects of the problem, a sociological aspect and a legal aspect. The legal aspect, again, has two components, determination of representation in services and the nature of backwardness. The first 4 Chapters are a description of sociological aspects with a view to find whether social perceptions of the latest operative judgement are based on social realities of Indian society. The next two Chapters are an analysis of the judgement and whether the Middle Classes were identified in accordance with the Court's perceptions. Backward Classes Commissions appointed by the Central Government, intention of Constituent Assembly in passing certain laws, some important judgement having bearing on identification process and concurring and dissenting judgements too are discussed. The final Chapter is about the Conundrum the nation still finds itself entangled in.

The author is a surgeon by profession. After returning from 2 years study leave in U.K. in 1973 he started Vascular Surgery as a separate specialty in the Armed Forces. He took pre-mature retirement in the rank of Lt. Col. in early 1979 and worked as a Senior Consultant in various large private hospitals in Delhi. It was a co-incidence that in 1991 he became an Intervener in the famous Mandal case. It was an even greater co-incidence that he was permitted to appear before the Special Bench of the Apex Court in person when as a policy interveners were allowed to make their submissions only in writing. His interest in social justice continued when he discovered that certain lacunae in the Mandal judgment had somehow provided legitimacy to divisive politics. This work is a culmination of almost ten years of study undertaken by him during this period.

Caste can no longer be treated as a subject of interest only to scientists and media. Policies regarding quantum and details of reservation are matter of great interest to people at large, particularly politicians and administrators.

M.N.Srinivas Caste, Its 20th Century Avtar It was a co-incidence that in 1991 I became an intervener in the famous Mandal case. I had not imagined that one day I would appear before a nine judge Special Bench of the Supreme Court in person and submissions of a reluctant intervener before a disinclined Court would be of sufficient assistance to find a place in the Acknowledgment. It kept up my interest in caste related social justice, especially when found that the judgement did not address sufficiently some crucial points and appeared incomplete in some aspects. Social stratification of Hindu society is engulfed in numerous controversies and conflicting interpretations. It might be the reason why the vital issue of social structure was scarcely argued before the Court. Mandal Commission methodology was severely criticized, but its social ideology in Chapter 4 of its Report barely touched upon. Ultimately the omission proved too costly for the nation. It took almost ten years to find evidence for what was crucial, but left unresolved in the judicial process. Selection of relevant material out of a contradictory mass of literature was an arduous task. Eminent social scientists, historians and sources of both past and present times are quoted on the structure of society, rather than accept a couple of recent views or impose conclusions of a single source or authority. Two works, one edited by Prof. M.N. Srinivas in 1996 and another authored by Marc Galanter in 1984, have been noteworthy among many excellent and highly informative others. I am grateful to Prof. A.M. Shah, former Head of Department of Social Sciences Delhi University, for clearing some doubts and sending me a recent article written by Prof. Simon Charsely of Glasgow University on Untouchables. It answered a number of queries for which had found no satisfactory answers. It also provided a rare insight into the manner in which a society is induced to contrive against its own people and accept dubious appellations of far reaching consequences. One short meeting with Prof.

**Contents and Sample Pages**