In Indira Sawhney v. Union of India (1992), while stating that the caste cannot be a sole factor for determining the backwardness, the Supreme Court made an analysis on the difference between ‘Class’ and ‘Caste’, it said,
Meaning of ‘Class’ and ‘Caste’.
51. To identify the diversity of meanings of the words ‘class’ and ‘caste’ that constitute their inner complexity; to formulatle the questions about them that are disputed and to examine as well as to assess the opposed voices in controversies that have ensued and to understand their semiology, I shall first of all reproduce the meaning of those words as lexically defined.
The Oxford English Dictionary (Volume II) :
Class
(2) a division or order of society according to status; a rank or grade of society;…….(6) a number of individuals (persons or things) possessing common attributes, and grouped together under a general or ‘class’ name; a kind, sort, division.
Caste
(2) one of the several hereditary classes into which society in India has from time immemorial been divided; the members of each caste being socially equal, having the same religious rites, and generally, following the same occupation or profession; those of one caste have no social intercourse with those of another;
(3) the system or basis of this division among the Hindoos.
52. In Webster Comprehensive Dictionary (International Edition), the meaning of the words is given as follows :
Class
(1) A number of body of persons with common characteristics; the educated class; (2) social rank; caste
Caste
(1) one of the hereditary classes into which Hindu society is divided in India; (2) the principle of practice of such division or the position it confers; (3) the division of society on artificial grounds; a social class.
53. According to Webster’s Encyclopedic Unabridged Dictionary of the English Language meaning of the words ‘class’ and ‘caste’ is as follows :
Class
(1) a number of persons or things regarded as forming a group by reason of common attributes, characteristics, qualities, or traits, kind, sort (2) any division of persons or things according to rank or grade……….(9) Social, a social stratum sharing basic, economic, political or cultural characteristics and having the same social position……..(10) the system of dividing society; caste ……….
Caste
(1) Social, an endogamous and hereditary social group limited to persons of the same rank occupation, economic position etc. and having mores distinguishing it from other such groups, (2) any rigid system of social distinctions (2) Hinduism, any of the four social divisions, the Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaisya and Sudra, into which Hindu society is rigidly divided each caste having its own privileges and limitations, transferred by inheritance from one generation to the next (3) any class or group of society sharing common cultural features……….(6) pertaining to characterised by caste, a caste society; a caste system; a caste structure.
54. In Corpus Juris Secundum (14), the meaning of words ‘class’ and ‘caste’ is given thus :
Class
A number of objects distinguished by common characters from all others, and regarded as a collective unit or group, a collection capable of a general division, a number of persons or things ranked together for some common purpose or possessing some attribute in common; the order of rank according to which persons or things are arranged or assorted;……..
Caste
A class or grade, or division of society separated from others by differences of wealth, hereditary rank or privileges, or by profession or employment, having special significance when applied to the artificial divisions or social classes into which the Hindu are rigidly separated.
55. Black Law Dictionary (Sixth Edition) Centennial Edition (1891-1991) gives the meaning of ‘class’ thus :
Class
A group of persons, things, qualities, or activities having common characteristics or attributes.
176. The word ‘caste’ is defined in Encyclopedia Americana (5) thus :
Caste is a largely, exclusive social class, membership in which is determined by birth and involves particular customary restrictions and privileges. The word derives from the Portuguese casta, meaning ‘breed’, ‘race’, or ‘kind’ and was first used to denote the Hindu social classification on the Indian subcontinent. While this remains the basic connotation the word ‘caste’ is also used to describe in whole or in part social system that emerged at various times in other parts of the world……
57. The meaning of the word ‘backward’ is defined in lexicons as ‘retarded in physical, material or intellectual development’ or “slow’ in growth or development; retarded”.
58. A careful examination of the meaning of the words ‘class’ and ‘caste’ as defined above by the various dictionaries, perceivably shows that these two words are not synonymous with each other and they do not convey the same meaning.
See R. Chitralekha v. State of Mysore, 1964(6) SCR 368 at 388 and Triloki Nath v. J. & K. State, 1969(1) SCR 103 at 105 and K.C. Vasanth Kumar v. State of Karnataka, 1985 Supp (1) SCR 353.
59. The quintessence of the above definitions is that a group of persons having common traits or attributes coupled with retarded social, material (economic) and intellectual (educational) development in the sense not having so much of intellect and ability will fall within the ambit of ‘any backward class of citizens’ under Article 16(4) of the Constitution.
60. In the course of debate in the Parliament on the intendment of Article 16(4). Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the then Minister for Law expressed his views that “backward classes which are nothing else but a collection of certain castes.”