A supreme Court Bench examining the validity of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006, on Wednesday reiterated that the statute providing 27 per cent reservations to OBCs in Central educational institutions has to pass the test of equality and fairness.

“The touchstone of rationality and fairness is the test which the law providing reservation has to pass,” said the five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan.

The remark came as the Union Government was defending the law saying that provision of quota for the backward classes was “recognised” by the Constitution.

But cautioning the Government in its zeal to see that law passes through, the Bench warned, “Equality and fairness has to be there,” reminding it of the targeted group of beneficiary, the creamy layer.

The Bench also said traditional occupation by which a person’s caste was recognised could not be the ground in the present scenario to identify his or her backwardness.

It said many people of other castes were now opening beauty parlours which was the occupation of the people belonging to traditional barber community.

“The defined occupations are not applicable in the present scenario to identify the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes,” the Bench said. “The varna classification cannot apply now,” the Bench said.

Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium was arguing that it was wrong to say that reservation was total anathema to the Constitution as contended by anti-quota petitioners.

The court also said perhaps no systematic survey was done for the identification of backward classes after the 1931 census when Pakistan, Bangladesh were part of India.