The Patna High Court has invalidated amendments passed by the Bihar legislature in November, which sought to increase caste-based reservations in education and government jobs from 50% to 65%. The court ruled that this move infringed upon the right to equality as guaranteed by the Constitution, highlighting a historical precedent set by the Supreme Court’s 1992 ruling that capped reservations at 50%. Below are the key points related to this development:
BulletsIn
- Amendment Struck Down: The Patna High Court struck down the Bihar legislature’s amendments to increase reservations from 50% to 65%.
- Increase in Quotas: The amendments proposed to raise the quota for Scheduled Castes from 16% to 20%.
- Scheduled Tribes Quota: The quota for Scheduled Tribes was to be doubled from 1% to 2%.
- Other Backward Classes: The reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBC) were to be increased from 12% to 15%.
- Extremely Backward Classes: The quota for Extremely Backward Classes (EBC) was proposed to rise from 18% to 25%.
- Economically Weaker Sections: An additional 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) was included, raising the total proposed quota to 75%.
- Judicial Bench: The decision was made by a bench comprising Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar.
- Equality Infringement: The court ruled the bill infringed upon the constitutional right to equality.
- Petition Challenge: The bill was challenged by multiple petitions, arguing it was against the prudence of the state government given past Supreme Court rulings.
- Supreme Court Precedent: The Supreme Court had previously set a 50% limit on caste-based reservations in a 1992 ruling.
