Article 341
Presidential Orders and Scheduled Castes
Article 341 of the Constitution vests the power to specify Scheduled Castes in the President, exercised via a Presidential Order after consultation with the Governor of the state concerned. Once issued, the list can only be modified by Parliament through legislation (Article 341(2)). This means neither the executive nor the courts can add or remove communities from the SC list — only Parliament can amend the list. This constitutional architecture means that any change in the religious restriction on SC status would require Parliament to pass an Act amending the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950. The Supreme Court's 2026 ruling reinforces that this is a parliamentary, not a judicial, question.
- Article 341(1): President specifies SCs by Presidential Order
- Article 341(2): Parliament alone can include/exclude castes from the list (by law)
- Courts cannot add communities to SC list: Confirmed by multiple judgments including E.V. Chinnaiah v. State of AP (2005)
- Sub-classification within SCs: Permitted by the seven-judge bench in State of Punjab v. Davinder Singh (2024) — states may sub-classify SCs for reservation purposes
- SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989: Protection available only to those who qualify as SC under the 1950 Order
● Tracked since March 24, 2026 · last seen July 27, 2026 · updates as the daily brief publishes