Big blow to Bihar government: Patna HC scraps 65% quota for backward classes

The Patna High Court on Thursday (Jun 20) struck down a Bihar government's decision that hiked reservations for backward classes, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes from 50 to 65 per cent. The Nitish-Kumar-led government, an ally of the national ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA), had increased the quota last November after completing the caste-based survey.

A high court bench led by Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran said the decision violated the equality clause under Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Indian Constitution.

A leader of Bihar's ruling Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) party termed the high court's decision 'unfortunate.'

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Manoj Jha said, "I would like to say that we should see the social background of the petitioner. Who are those people trying to do this from behind the curtains? We would urge Nitish Kumar to challenge this decision immediately in the upper court."

The amended reservation legislation, passed in November,included a 20 per cent quota for Scheduled Castes, 2 per cent for Scheduled Tribes, 43 per cent for Other Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes. Combined with the 10 per cent quota for Economically Weaker Section (EWS), the total reservation in the state, as per the bill, was pushed up to 75 per cent. This waswell abovethe 50 per cent threshold set by the Supreme Court.

The petitions filed against the legislation primarily highlighted this fundamental problem as "quota hike was also discriminatory in nature and violative of the fundamental rights to equality as guaranteed to the citizens by Articles 14, 15 and 16,” the petitioners argued.

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“The amendments are violative of the Supreme Court verdict passed in the case of Indira Sawhney versus Union of India whereby a maximum ceiling of 50% was laid down,” they added.

(With inputs from agencies)