B. SUDERSHAN REDDY, J.

( 1 ) SEVERAL of the most devisive moral conflicts that have beset us Indians in the period since the dawn of independence have been transmuted into constitutional conflicts conflicts what the Constitution of India forbids and resolved as such. The most prominent instances include the conflicts over Federalism, Secularism, sex-based discrimination and affirmative action. The conflicts over affirmative action programme occupy a large space.

( 2 ) THE great bulk of constitutional litigation concerns State enactments and nearly all of that litigation purports to be based on a single sentence of Article 14 and, indeed, on one or the other of two pairs of words, "equality before the law" and "equal protection of the laws". If the Constitution is the embodiment of our aspirations, it must have become so very largely because of those two pairs of words. Each is a protection with centuries of history behind it, often dearly bought with the blood and lives of people determined to prevent oppression by their rulers.

( 3 ) WHEN the Supreme Court revisited the question of whether and under what circumstances the State may engage in affirmative action in Indra Sawhney and others v. Union of India and others, what is popularly known as Mandal Commission case, which is considered to be a great and comprehensive work of learning and scholarship on the question of reservations in favour of vulnerable sections of the society, it was perceived to have had provided final solution to the problems arising in that regard. Significant progress has been made on both the constitutional and philosophical fronts, as various issues have been significantly clarified and diverse position given cogent articulation. Yet the debate over affirmative action has recently intensified, with advocates and foes as bitterly divided as ever.

( 4 ) THIS debate on reservations involves complex and sensitive issues. No doubt a great deal has already been said, much of it on merit and on point. That occasion had arisen once again and the issue is presented for consideration before the Court vested with the power of judicial review. The modern activist State is a concomitant of the complexity of modern society; it is inevitably with us. We must meet the challenge rather than wish it were not before us.

( 5 ) IT is apt to recall the following observations of Sawant, J. in Indra sawhney s case:"in a legal system where the Courts are vested with the power of judicial review, on occasions issues with social, political and economic overtones come up for consideration. They are commonly known as political questions. Some of them are of transient importance while others have portentous consequences for generations to come. More often than not such issues are emotionally hypercharged and raise a storm of controversy in the society. Reason and rationalism become the first casualties, and sentiments run high. The Courts have, however, as a part of their obligatory duty, to decide them. While dealing with them the courts have to raise the issues above the contemporary dust and din, and examine them dispassionately, keeping in view, the long term interests of the society as a whole. Such problems cannot always be answered by the strict rules of logic. Social realities which have their own logic have also their role to play in resolving them. The present is an issue of the kind. "a word about the Constitutional logic of Reservations:

( 6 ) THE problem of reservational protective discrimination is multi-dimensional involving formidable burdens of "policymaking and administration in a developing nation".

( 7 ) ONE of the most treasured liberties provided in the Constitution, and perhaps the liberty that sets the India apart from many third world countries, is equality under the law and equal protection of the laws . This principle is enshrined in the trinity of articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution of india. Equality is not an amorphous concept that exists in

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