NEW DELHI — The Supreme Court has rejected a batch of pleas seeking review of its Constitution Bench judgment, which had held that sub-classification within Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) would be permissible for providing benefits of affirmative action. After perusing the review petitions, a 7-judge Constitution Bench headed by CJI D.Y. Chandrachud said that “there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review under Order XLVII Rule 1 of the Supreme Court Rules 2013 has been established. The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed.” In a landmark verdict delivered on August 1, the majority suggested the application of the “creamy layer” principle to the SCs and STs for availing quota benefits, but with a caveat that while providing for sub-classification, the government would not be entitled to reserve 100 per cent seats available for SCs/STs in favour of a particular sub-class to the exclusion of other castes in the List. In a 6:1 decision, it overturned its 2004 judgment, which had ruled against giving preferential treatment to certain sub-castes within scheduled castes (SCs). In his detailed opinion, Justice B.R. Gavai said, “When the 9-Judge Bench in Indra Sawhney held that applicability of...