Equality, Justice And Reverse Discrimination In India

Present wide-spread preferential treatment programmes being followed by the State for the uplift of weaker sections of society have generated a great deal of controversy among legal scholars, judges, philosophers, sociologists and the members of general public. These programmes have been criticised both for their inadequacy and excessiveness. The delicacy and complexity of the problem has got further accentuated in view of the bulk of the population putting its claim of special treatment. In a country with scarce resources and still more scarce opportunities one should not get surprised if some sort of vested interest gets attached with backwardness. Thus, a programme intended to bring the hiatus dividing the Indian people and to bring about socio-economic integration has become, atleast for the moment, a source of conflict. In the process everything including the constitutional provisions and their interpretations have to be defended and justified by resort to moral and rational principles. Therefore, the importance of the subject for thorough academic research is self evident. Consequently, the author has dispassionately sought to examine in this book the juridical and constitutional questions arising out of the policy of preferential treatment of weaker sections of society. The central assumption of the book is that legal analysis alone is insufficient to decide correctly the complex issues raised by the policy of preferential treatment and the programmes implementing it. An attempt has thus been made to evaluate these policies and programmes with reference to various theories of justice. An attempt has also been made to see how far American analysis and experiences are relevant in the Indian context.