Bihar moves Supreme Court against Patna High Court order quashing 65% quota

The Bihar government moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday, challenging the Patna High Court’s directive to ‘set aside’ the increase in the State’s reservation for disadvantaged communities, from the existing 50% to 65%. This is the quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), extremely backward classes (EBCs), and other backward classes (OBCs) in government jobs and educational institutions.

The Bihar government’s appeal before the top court was filed through advocate Manish Kumar. “Yes, the State government has filed an appeal before the Supreme Court today and our advocate Ayush Anand too has filed a caveat before the court to hear our side,” Patna HC senior advocate Dinu Kumar, who represents the petitioners against the quota hike, told The Hindu.

Also read: Limit and excess: On the Patna High Court judgment and enhanced reservation 

Hike post caste survey

Following the release of a caste-based survey report in 2022, the Bihar government headed by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had decided to increase the quota for OBCs, EBCs, SCs, and STs from 50% to 65%. Along with the 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the total reservation in Bihar rose to 75% once the legislation to effect the quota hike was unanimously by the Bihar Legislative Assembly in November 2023.

Immediately afterwards, Public Interest Litigation (PIL) petitions were filed in the Patna HC, challenging the quota hike as a “violation of the right to equal opportunity for citizens in matters of employment and education”.

50% quota cap

Representing the petitioners, Mr. Dinu Kumar argued that the Supreme Court had imposed a 50% cap of reservations in its judgment in the Indira Sawhney case. He told the Patna HC that the State’s decision was taken “on the basis of the proportion of castes and not on the basis of adequate representation in government jobs”.

Also read: Reservation within Constitutional bounds

Appearing for the State government, however, Advocate General P.K. Shahi insisted that the quota hike was due to the lack of adequate representation of these classes, and not on a “proportionate basis”.

‘Violates Constitution’

On June 20, hearing the petition filed by Gaurav Kumar and others, a division bench of the Patna HC comprising Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar ‘set aside’ the amendments passed by the Bihar legislature in 2023 to increase the reservation as “ultra vires the Constitution and violative of the equality clause under Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution”.

In its judgment, the High Court also reasoned that the caste survey report relied upon by the State itself revealed that backward communities were adequately represented in public employment, by virtue of reservation and also merit. The court added that the State should introspect on keeping total reservations within the 50% limit and exclude the “creamy layer” from these benefits.