Bihar dy CM says will move Supreme Court against HC stay on quota hike
Janata Dal (United) leader and state minister Madan Sahni, too, said the government will take necessary action. “Bihar is the first state to have conducted a caste-based survey and, on its basis, increased reservation.
The Bihar government will move the Supreme Court to challenge the Patna high court’s decision setting aside a hike in reservation for deprived castes from 50% to 65%, deputy chief minister Samrat Choudhary said on Thursday, even as leader of opposition Tejashwi Yadav slammed the ruling National Democratic Alliance (NDA) for failing to include the quota law in the ninth schedule of the Constitution for providing it immunity from judicial review.

In a setback to the Nitish Kumar government, the high court on Thursday struck down legislations passed by the state assembly in November last year to increase the reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and backward classes in education and government jobs to 65%, exceeding the 50% ceiling fixed by the top court in the 1992 Indra Sawhney case.
“The Bihar government will challenge the high court order before the Supreme Court after seeking legal opinion. In Bihar, the reservation for backward communities, Dalits and tribals must increase,” Choudhary, who is also the state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief said. “We believe that the reservation laws in Bihar were amended in accordance with provisions of the Constitution... states like Tamil Nadu, too, have 69% quotas.”
Janata Dal (United) leader and state minister Madan Sahni, too, said the government will take necessary action. “Bihar is the first state to have conducted a caste-based survey and, on its basis, increased reservation. We will take cognisance of the high court’s decision that came today. CM Nitish Kumar has never stepped back from providing benefits to people... We trust him and we will work within the framework of law for reservation,” he added.
Reacting to the high court’s verdict, opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav accused the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre for creating hurdles earlier in conduct of caste survey and hike in reservation.
“We are hurt and we were suspecting that the BJP will try to stop the reservation. We already said this during elections that BJP people are against the reservation... I don’t understand why the CM is silent on this,” the RJD leader said.
Yadav said his party, which was part of the government that implemented the increased reservation, had insisted for inclusion of the amended laws on reservation in the ninth schedule of the Constitution.
“But nothing was done by the state or central government. We demand that an all-party delegation meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi for inclusion of the hike in quota in the ninth schedule,” he said, adding if the state government does not move the top court challenging the high court order, his party would.
State secretary of CPI-ML (liberation) Kunal expressed his disappointment over the high court order and said the state government should move to the apex court for “protecting the interests of the backward and oppressed classes”.
