Top court verdict may impact state-specific reservations

The Indra Sawhney judgment set an upper threshold of 50% for reservations, it did so for reservations made under Section 16(4) of the Constitution, which basically allows for reservation for backward classes (including scheduled castes and tribes).

It is not clear if the Supreme Court ruling upholding the 10% reservation for EWS (economically weaker sections) will open the floodgates on efforts by states introducing reservation for specific caste and community groups.

On September 14, 2022, Hemant Soren-led Jharkhand government approved a Bill to increase reservation for OBC, SC and STs, taking total reservation in Jharkhand to 77%. (HT_PRINT)

The Indra Sawhney judgment set an upper threshold of 50% for reservations, it did so for reservations made under Section 16(4) of the Constitution, which basically allows for reservation for backward classes (including scheduled castes and tribes).

Constitutional courts, high courts and the Supreme Court itself, have, in several orders, cited the Indra Sawhney judgement and struck down reservation for caste, class and community groupings that took reservation beyond 50%. Nor did that judgment rule out reservation for EWS, although it said these could not be made under Section 16.1 (right to equal opportunity).

That means efforts by various states to announce additional reservation may still hit a legal hurdle. For instance, on October 31, the Karnataka government notified an increase in reservation for scheduled caste from 15% to 17% and scheduled tribe reservation from 3% to 7% . “The bill to ratify the Ordinance will be tabled in the winter session of state assembly,” said Karnataka law and parliamentary affairs minister, JC Madhuswamy said. This will take total reservation in Karnataka to 56%.

In Haryana, the demand for reservation for the dominant Jat community has been a long standing demand. In 2016, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state brought a law to provide 10% reservation under Other Backward Classes (OBCs) for Jats and four other communities. The decision was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana high court. With reservation to Jats and four other communities, the total reservation in the state will go up to 57%.

Rajasthan passed the Backward Classes Amendment Bill in February 2019 granting a 5% quota to Gujjars and four other castes, a move that takes total reservation to 54%. This, too, has been legally challenged.