Treading a Dangerous Path

With several states breaching the 50 percent quota in government jobs, the apex court has issued a notice to them and Union Territories asking if this could be allowed as the limit was laid down by a bench in 1992

- Vivek K Agnihotri

ON March 8, 2021, the Supreme Court decided to examine whether its nearly three-decades-old judgment, prescribing a ceiling 50 percent on reservation for marginalised and the poor in government jobs and educational institutions, needs a relook by a larger bench.

The primary occasion was the hearing of a petition questioning the validity of the Maharashtra government’s decision to grant reservation to Marathas.

The five-judge bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, decided to expand the ambit of the case by making other states party to it and inviting them to make their stand clear on whether reservation should continue within the 50 percent Lakshman rekha.

The Maharashtra State Reservation (of Seats for Admission in Educational Institutions in the State and for Appointments in the Public Services and Posts under the State) for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018, as amended in 2019, provides for 16 percent quota for Marathas. This takes the total reservation in Maharashtra beyond 50 percent. Further, the 102nd Constitutional Amendment, giving constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes, states that the president would notify the list of backward classes for all states in consultation with the governors. This has raised a doubt whether states have the power to make inclusion in and exclusion from the list of backward classes.

The bench has accordingly formulated the following six questions for its consideration: