Justice Pankaj Mithal Calls for Limiting Reservation Benefits to First Generation, Urges Fresh Review of Policy

Justice Pankaj Mithal’s recent comments on reservation have sparked a vigorous debate on affirmative action in today’s India. He stated that the original purpose of reservation was to promote social justice and help the most disadvantaged—not to create a perpetual entitlement across generations.​

Justice Mithal argued that once a family benefits from reservation and achieves an equitable standing in society, subsequent generations should advance based on merit. “Reservation, if any, has to be limited only for the first generation. If any generation in the family has taken advantage of the reservation and achieved higher status, the benefit of reservation would not logically be available to the second generation,” he wrote in a concurring Supreme Court opinion. He further called for periodic reviews to exclude families who have substantially progressed and no longer need reservation, thus opening opportunities for those genuinely in need.​

The Supreme Court’s recent landmark judgment, delivered by a seven-judge bench including Justice Mithal, upheld the practice of sub-classification within Scheduled Castes and Tribes. The majority ruled that states could gather empirical data to identify and target the most backward groups and apply the “creamy layer” principle even for SC/ST categories. Mithal’s opinion separately emphasized that future reservation benefits should be determined by criteria such as financial status, living conditions, and occupation rather than purely by caste identity.​

Justice Mithal’s stance aligns with efforts to ensure justice for the truly marginalized, advocating that reservation should remain dynamic and responsive to societal changes. The Court’s decision thus aims to prevent reservation’s concentration within a limited set of families, helping open doors for other deprived groups while addressing the debate around “creamy layer” and social upliftment.​