Bill for 10% Reservation for General Category Poor Challenged in Supreme Court

A plea was filed in the Supreme Court on Thursday challenging the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill, 2019 that offers 10 % reservation in jobs and education for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) of the general category.

The petition—by NGO Youth for Equality and Kaushal Kant Mishra—sought the quashing of the bill saying that the economic criteria can't be the sole basis for reservation. It stated that the bill violates the fundamental feature of the Constitution because the reservation on economic grounds can't be limited to the general classes and also the 50 % ceiling limit cannot be breached.

The latest development came a day after Parliament approved the Bill and, thereby, effecting a change in the Constitution to add a brand new chapter to the laws on reservation nearly 3 decades after the Mandal Commission recommendations came into force.

Late Wednesday night and a day after the Bill sailed through Lok Sabha, Rajya Sabha too gave its stamp of approval at the end of a marathon nine-hour discussion that saw the Opposition tearing into the govt. Questioning the timing, Opposition members had said: “electoral compulsions” had forced the govt to push the legislation in “haste”.

The government hit back with Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad saying “sixes are hit in the slog overs” of a match and “more sixes will come”.