EWS Reservation in India, SC Verdict

EWS Reservation in India

The petitions challenged the validity of the Constitution (103rd) Amendment Act 2019. Economic reservation in jobs and education was proposed to be provided by inserting clause (6) in Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution through the amendment passed by the Parliament in January 2019.

The newly inserted Article 15(6) enabled the State to make special provisions for the advancement of any economically weaker section of citizens, including reservations in educational institutions. It states that such reservation can be made in any educational institution, including private institutions, whether aided or unaided, except minority educational institutions covered under Article 30(1).

 It further states that the upper limit of the reservation will be ten percent, which will be in addition to the existing reservations. After the amendment was notified by the President, a batch of petitions were filed in the Supreme Court challenging the constitutional validity of the economic reservation.

The Supreme Court bench, also comprising justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi, and J B Pardiwala, on September 27 reserved the verdict on legality of the quota after hearing a bunch of plea that have challenged the validity of the 103rd Constitution amendment that paved the way for EWS reservation in India. The marathon hearing had lasted for six-and-half-day.