Justice G. Rohini refers to the Commission to Examine Sub-categorisation of Other Backward Classes, an institution constituted by the Government of India. The Commission was established on October 2, 2017, under Article 340 of the Constitution, which empowers the President to appoint a body to investigate the conditions of socially and educationally backward classes. It was chaired by Justice G. Rohini, the former Chief Justice of the Delhi High Court.
The Commission was created to solve the problem of inequitable distribution of the 27 per cent reservation benefits for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in central government jobs and educational institutions. The underlying grievance was that a few dominant OBC communities had disproportionately cornered the benefits, leaving hundreds of smaller, more backward castes underrepresented. The Commission's primary mechanism was to analyze data on the share of representation each of the roughly 2,650 castes in the Central List of OBCs had secured in central jobs and admissions. Its terms of reference included working out the criteria for sub-categorisation and identifying and classifying the respective castes into appropriate sub-categories. Data analysis revealed a striking concentration: 97% of all benefits went to just 25% of OBC castes, and 983 communities—37% of the total—had zero representation.
The concept connects directly to the Mandal Commission recommendations and the Supreme Court's 1992 ruling in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, which upheld the 27% OBC quota. It also relates to the constitutional provisions of Article 15(4) and Article 16(4), which permit the state to make special provisions for backward classes. The Commission submitted its report to President Droupadi Murmu on July 31, 2023, after receiving 13 extensions to its tenure, but the contents have not yet been made public. The proposed mechanism, as reported, involves dividing the OBCs into four sub-categories to ensure a more equitable split of the 27% quota.