On November 7, 2022, the Supreme Court of India upheld the Constitutional validity of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment which grants a 10 per cent reservation to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) for unreserved categories.
The five-judge constitution bench of Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi and JB Pardiwala, in a 3:2 verdict, held that the provisions of the concerned amendment is not in violation of the constitution. The beneficiaries can now avail of the quota for admission to public sector educational institutions and government jobs.
#UPDATE | CJI UU Lalit concurs with Justice Ravindra Bhat, the decision stands at 3:2.
— ANI (@ANI) November 7, 2022
Majority bench – Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela Trivedi and JB Pardiwala uphold the #EWS amendment.
Notably, while CJI UU Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat dissented from the majority judgment, Justices Maheshwari, Trivedi and Pardiwala upheld the EWS quota in admissions and government jobs.
After the Supreme Court affirmed the legality of the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which provides 10% reservation to people from Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in admissions and government positions, Congress leader Udit Raj made another controversial statement.
The Congress leader dubbed the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the EWS reservation “casteist” in a tweet.
सुप्रीम कोर्ट जातिवादी है, अब भी कोई शक! EWS आरक्षण की बात आई तो कैसे पलटी मारी कि 50% की सीमा संवैधानिक बाध्यता नही है लेकिन जब भी SC/ST/OBC को आरक्षण देने की बात आती थी तो इंदिरा साहनी मामले में लगी 50% की सीमा का हवाला दिया जाता रहा।
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) November 7, 2022
The tweet in Hindi said, “Supreme Court is casteist, is there still any doubt! When it came to EWS reservation, how was it reversed that the 50% limit is not a constitutional obligation, but whenever it came to giving reservation to SC/ST/OBC, the 50% limit in the Indira Sawhney case was cited.”
Hitting out again on the apex court, the Congress leader put ut another Tweet that read, “I am not against EWS reservation but is pained to observe the upper caste mindset of Supreme Court that it took total U turn today what it had been holding ever since Indira Sahani judgement. Whenever SC/ST/OBC reservation matters came , SC always reminded the limit of 50%.
I am not against EWS reservation but is pained to observe the upper caste mindset of Supreme Court that it took total U turn today what it had been holding ever since Indira Sahani judgement. Whenever SC/ST/OBC reservation matters came , SC always reminded the limit of 50%.
— Dr. Udit Raj (@Dr_Uditraj) November 7, 2022
It may be recalled how a slew of petitions against the EWS quota had been filed in the Supreme Court. A five-judge constitution bench led by Chief Justice U U Lalit had begun hearing the matter on September 13.
The Modi government implemented the EWS Quota in 2019, after which a 10% reservation quota for members of the general category Economically Weaker Sections is being offered in public sector educational institutions and government jobs. It was passed to help the poor who were not safeguarded by the reservation policy for SCs, STs, and OBCs.
