SC observes pleas challenging 10% EWS quota; Economic criteria for policies not proscribed

Economic criteria to ensure that the benefits of government policies reach the target group is not "proscribed" and a "recognised" basis of classification, the Supreme Court orally observed while hearing pleas challenging a 10% quota for the EWS category. A five-judge Constitution bench was told by several lawyers that the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) quota on the sole criteria of the financial position of a family is unconstitutional as the grant of such a quota under the Constitution is not part of the poverty alleviation scheme.

The lawyers said the EWS quota is "wholly unwarranted, arbitrary, illegal and unconstitutional" and amounted to "legislative judgement" by the government to overrule the Indra Swahane or the Mandal verdict which had specifically held that the economic criteria cannot be the sole one to grant reservation. While hearing the arguments, the bench observed "the government frames policies on the ground of economic criteria to ensure benefits of such policies reach out to target people... and the economic criteria is a permissible ground and forms part of a reasonable basis for classification. It is not proscribed."