NEW DELHI: In
striking down the Maharashtra law granting reservation to the Maratha community in education and government jobs in the state, the Supreme Court has sparked a new debate: If states don’t have the power to identify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) on the ground then will the Centre be able to do justice?
The court has ruled that, henceforth, there will only be a single list of socially and educationally backward classes with respect to each State and Union Territory notified by the President of India, and that States can only make recommendations for inclusion or exclusion, with any subsequent change to be made only by Parliament.
Maratha Reservations: Why SCâs Verdict May Still Open the Door to Further Litigation
The five-judge bench was unanimous on why the 50% ceiling on reservations should not be breached, but delivered a 3:2 verdict against states having final say on identifying the backward classes.
A file photo of the Supreme Court of India. Photo: PTI
Rights07/May/2021
The Supreme Courtâs Constitution bench on Wednesday delivered a mixed verdict on reservations, which is likely to invite a backlash both from the political class and disgruntled litigants. The courtâs ruling deals with three crucial issues and on two of them, it seems to have muddied the waters.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down a Maharashtra law granting quota to the progressive Maratha community in admissions and government jobs, saying there were no exceptional circumstances to warrant a breach of the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal verdict.
The five-judge constitution bench was unanimous in calling the quota “unconstitutional”. The quota, instituted in 2018, provided for 12 per cent reservation for Marathas in education and 13 per cent in government jobs. The bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, L. Nageswara Rao, Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S. Ravindra Bhat held that the Maharashtra government had not furnished any quantifiable data to support the reservation benefits for the Marathas.
NEW DELHI: Slamming Modi government for ignoring their warnings, opposition MPs and OBC leaders have demanded that the Centre amend the 102nd constitutional amendment Act to restore the exclusive powers of states to identify backward castes.
The opposition MPs are livid in the wake of the Supreme Court s Wednesday judgment that interpreted the amendment which granted the National Commission for Backward Classes the constitutional status but altered the system of identifying OBCs. We repeatedly warned the government that the wording of the bill will jeopardise the states s power to classify backward castes. It clearly gave primacy to NCBC. But social justice minister Thaawarchand Gehlot said our fears were misplaced. Now, the SC judgment should be appealed against and the 102nd amendment amended again, said BJD MP Bhartruhari Mahtab in the Lok Sabha.