N.M. Thomas case
Also called: State of Kerala v. N.M. Thomas · Topic: Safeguards for Vulnerable Sections: SCs, STs, OBCs, Minorities, Women and Children · NCERT: Beyond NCERT
Meaning
The N.M. Thomas case (State of Kerala v. N.M. Thomas, 1976) is a Supreme Court judgment on reservation in government jobs. The Court held that Article 16(4) is a facet of Article 16(1). A facet is one side of the same thing. Article 16(1) promises everyone equal chances in public jobs. Article 16(4) lets the state reserve posts for backward classes. So reservation is one way of reaching equality. It is not an exception that cuts into equality. The case matters because it laid the base for reading reservation as substantive equality, meaning equality of real chances and not just the same rules for all.
Example
In 1976 the Court upheld preferential treatment for SC and ST employees in Kerala's services. Later, Indra Sawhney (1992), B.K. Pavitra II (2019) and Rohith Nathan (2026) repeated the same view.
Don't confuse with
- M.R. Balaji case (1962): an earlier ruling that saw reservation more as an exception and said it should generally stay below 50%. N.M. Thomas moved the law towards treating reservation as part of equality itself.
Related concepts
- Substantive equality
- Reservation policy
- Reservation in public employment
- Vertical reservation
- Horizontal reservation