Supreme Court seeks states' response on quota to specific class

The Supreme Court on Monday asked all states to submit views on whether they favoured exceeding the court-mandated 50% ceiling on quotas in government jobs and education institutions. SC also asked states to say if they feel that the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act has taken away their power to provide quotas.

A five-judge bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan decided to issue notice while hearing petitions challenging the Maharashtra government’s decision to reserve 12% and 13% quota for Marathas, in admissions and jobs, respectively.

The state included Marathas in the socially and educationally backward classes category. After 10% reservation for economically backward classes introduced by the Modi government, the total reservation in Maharashtra is 72%, much beyond the 50% legal cap. Appearing for Maharashtra, senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi contended that reservation in almost all states exceeded the cap and the court should reconsider the cap.


The bench which includes Justices L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and Ravindra Bhatt, will also examine whether the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act abridged a state government’s powers to provide for quotas in admissions and jobs and its impact on the federal structures.

The amendment created a National Commission for Backward Classes and mandates states and Centre to consult the commission on all major policy decisions affecting socially and educationally backward classes. The bench said that it will begin a mix of physical and virtual court hearings in the case from March 15, before which states will have to place their legal submissions on the issue.

Quotas have been a sensitive issue in Indian politics, with most states providing more than 50% reservation to appease politically significant classes.