10% Quota for poor (EWS) cleared by Supreme Court, big win for Government

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, Nov 07, 2022: In a big win for the government, the Supreme Court today backed the 10 per cent quota in colleges and government jobs for the poor or EWS (Economically Weaker Sections), introduced just before the 2019 general elections.

 

The EWS quota is not discriminatory and does not alter the basic structure of the constitution, said the majority Supreme Court judgment.

The quota bypassed affirmative action that benefits communities traditionally marginalised in Indian society, like the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

The quota was introduced through the 103rd constitutional amendment, cleared in January 2019 by the Centre soon after the ruling BJP lost the Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh elections. It was instantly challenged in the Supreme Court.

Petitions had questioned how the quota could cross the 50 per cent national cap on reservation set by the Supreme Court in 1992 and whether it changed the "basic structure" of the constitution.

Only one of the five judges, Justice Ravindra Bhat, dissented, saying India’s constitution does not allow exclusion.

"Economic destitution, economic backwardness is backbone of this amendment and on this account amendment is constitutionally indefeasible. However, excluding the classes such as Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes (OBC) is not constitutionally permissible," Justice Bhat said.

Most opposition parties, including the Congress, did not oppose the law. But as many as 40 petitions were heard by the Supreme Court against it, including by the state of Tamil Nadu, which has among the highest reservation in the country.

The case was first presented before three judges, who referred it to a larger five-judge bench in 2019. This September, the court held a marathon six-and-half-day hearing of the case and reserved its verdict.