Supreme Court Upholds High Court’s Decision to Scrap Bihar’s 65% Quota for Backward Classes

Supreme Court Upholds Patna High Court's Verdict on Bihar's Reservation Policy

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court of India has chosen not to halt the Patna High Court’s decision that invalidated the Bihar government’s move to increase caste-based reservations. The court has also issued a notice regarding the appeals from the Bihar government and has scheduled a hearing for September.

Patna High Court’s Decision

Last month, the Patna High Court struck down the Bihar government’s notification that aimed to raise the reservation quota for backward classes, Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) from 50% to 65%. The court’s ruling followed multiple petitions questioning the legality of the state’s reservation hike.

Legislative Authority and Constitutional Concerns

The petitions argued that the increase in reservations exceeded the state’s legislative authority. They contended that the hike was discriminatory and violated the fundamental right to equality guaranteed by Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Indian Constitution. Furthermore, it was claimed that the amendments breached the Supreme Court’s previous verdict in the Indira Sawhney case, which set a 50% cap on total reservations.

Bihar Government’s Amendments

In November 2023, the Bihar government had introduced two significant reservation bills: the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for SC, ST, EBC, and OBC) Amendment Bill and the Bihar (in Admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation Amendment Bill, 2023. These bills proposed increasing the reservation quota to 65%, pushing the total reservations in the state to 75%, including an additional 10% for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS).

Based on the findings from a recent caste survey, the government had planned to adjust the reservations as follows: 20% for SC, 2% for ST, 25% for Extremely Backward Classes (EBC), and 18% for Other Backward Classes (OBC).

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