JUSTICE

 Justice reconciles conflicting values such as liberty and equality. It also reconciles individual freedom with social requirements. Justice is related to equity. Equity is the principle that there be fair shares based on need, merit and capacity.

Equity is not to be confused with equality. Equality would require that there be no distinctions on the basis of caste, merit, etc. but positive discrimination in favor of the disadvantaged classes is an important feature of social justice. Social justice is based on the principle of equity.

Justice is also related to equality. Equality stands for equality of consideration i.e. all are to be treated alike except when there are relevant differences between them. this is why special provisions are made for weaker sections of society, handicapped persons, women, children and the aged. Thus when there are relevant basis for discrimination the principle of equality is not violated. However, to ensure that justice has been done even when there are relevant differences the degree of discrimination has to be reasonable. e.g. The Mandal Commission was right in holding that there be reservations for disadvantaged people but it became a faulty policy when caste was made the 'sole' factor for deciding reservations. 

The prinicple of equity demands that those sections of society which have already advanced economically should not benefit from the reservation policy. 

Social justice is the usually accepted from in favor of the underpriviledged and is preferred over legal justice. Policies and programs of the state are means of implementing social justice.