Can Brahmins get panchayat quota? Supreme Court to decide soon
India
The Supreme Court is set to hear if Brahmins—traditionally seen as socially advanced—can be counted as "politically backward" for local body (panchayat) reservations.
This comes after a petition pointed to a 2010 judgment that separated political and social backwardness, raising fresh questions about who gets included in reservation lists.
Why does this matter?
This case could reshape how reservation quotas are decided.
The bench has already noted that only socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) can be considered politically backward—not the other way around.
The debate is occurring alongside state-level changes to reservation policies, such as Bihar's increase in quotas to 65% for Backward Classes, EBCs, SCs and STs.