Team News Riveting
New Delhi, November 7
The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the validity of 103rd Constitutional Amendment that grants 10 percent reservation to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) among the forward castes in government jobs and educational institutes.
By a majority of 3:2, a five-judge Constitution Bench said the EWS quota is not discriminatory and does not alter the basic structure of the constitution.
The 10 per cent quota in colleges and government jobs for the poor or EWS (Economically Weaker Sections), introduced was introduced just before the 2019 general elections. The judgement had come as a big relief for the Narendra Modi government.
The judgment was delivered by a bench comprising Chief Justice of India (CJI) UU Lalit and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi and JB Pardiwala. There were four separate judgments delivered by the bench with CJI UU Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat dissenting from the majority opinion.
The Supreme Court had on September 27 concluded hearing the batch of pleas challenging the validity of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment that grants 10 percent reservation to Economically Weaker Section (EWS) among the forward castes. The petitions, filed by NGOs Janhit Abhiyan and Youth for Equality, among others, had challenged the amendment on the ground that economic classification cannot be the sole basis for reservation.
The Amendment Act provides for reservation of 10 percent seats in public and private educational institutions, and in public employment, for the “economically weaker sections” of citizens other than Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and socially and educationally backward classes.
During the hearing, the petitioners had contended that the amendment violates the basic structure of the Constitution and breaches the overall 50 per cent ceiling of reservation as mandated by the dictum in the Indra Sawhney case.
The reservation of 10 per cent seats for EWS other than SC/ST/OBCs is arbitrary and excessive, they had stated.
