In a relief to job aspirants and those seeking admission to various courses, the Supreme Court on Monday gave an interim stay on the September 2022 order of Chhattisgarh High Court (HC) that struck down the 58 per cent caste quota mandated by the state government, calling it unconstitutional.
Chhattisgarh's Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma confirmed to THE WEEK that the SC stayed the HC order of September 19, 2022, allowing the 58 per cent quota to continue in the state subject to the final outcome of the special leave petition (SLP) filed by the state government. “Thus, recruitments and admissions that were held up due to the HC decision can now resume,” the AG said.
The interim order of the SC came following a hearing in the court of Justice B.R. Gavai on Monday. The quota used for recruitments and admissions done now will be subject to change/or not as per the final order of the SC in the case.
Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel while welcoming the decision of the apex court, mentioned that the struggle of the state government (to ensure 76 per cent quota as proposed in two bills approved by the state Assembly in December 2022) will continue. “We all welcome the decision of the Supreme Court to stay the decision of the High Court on 58 per cent reservation. But our struggle against BJP's conspiracy against Chhattisgarh's youth will continue. Justice will be served only when the governor signs the new bills. We will fight and win,” Baghel tweeted.
After the Chhattisgarh HC struck down the state government's 2012 legislation increasing the quota to 58 per cent, all recruitments and admissions were put on hold due to confusion on the quota distribution to be used. It was unclear whether the quota distribution before 2012 (which had provision for 20 pc reservation for scheduled tribe (ST), 16 pc for scheduled castes (SC) and 14 pc for OBCs) will come into force or there will be no quota at all. The 2012 legislation had provision for 32 pc quota for STs, 12 pc for SCs and 14 pc for OBCs.
The Congress government on one hand had filed a SLP in the Supreme Court challenging the HC decision and also passed two bills provisioning 76 per cent total reservations in government jobs and educational institutions in the state Assembly.
However, the bills remain pending with the office of the governor, despite a change in governors (from Anusuiya Uikey to Biswabhushan Harichandan), could not become legislations and the quota issue continued to hang fire. The ruling Congress has been at loggerheads with the governor's house on the issue and CM Baghel and other senior leaders have continuously alleged that the governor house was holding up the bills under pressure from the Opposition BJP.
Meanwhile, the held-up recruitment was slowly developing into a big issue in the poll-bound state and the interim decision of the SC comes as a relief for the ruling Congress too.
Advocate General Verma told THE WEEK that the HC had quashed the 58 pc quota legislated by the earlier (BJP) government as no supporting data was presented in the court. This indicates that the data based on caste-wise population survey in the state, undertaken by the Congress government, might have been presented in the Supreme Court to seek a stay on the HC decision. This data was used by the government as the background on which 76 per cent quota was decided in the pending bills. The bills propose a 32 pc quota for STs, 27 pc for OBCs, 13 pc for SCs and 4 pc for economically weaker sections (EWS).
BJP claims moral win
Opposition BJP meanwhile claimed the SC stay on HC order as a moral win for the party. Ex-chief minister Raman Singh, while quoting CM Baghel’s tweet said, “The BJP government had implemented the 58 pc reservation after giving very serious thought to the matter and today the Supreme Court put a stamp of approval on it and opened the way for recruitment for young friends. The reality of the Congress government, which became an obstacle in this 58 pc reservation, is now clear to the youth now.”
Leader of Opposition Narayan Chandel said that it was Congress that was responsible for getting the 58 pc quota quashed by HC. “The Supreme Court has removed the ban imposed by the Congress on the 58% reservation for the deprived classes, implemented during the BJP regime. This is the ideological victory of the BJP. Now, the Chief Minister should also understand that he is not above the Constitution or laws and should stop making unconstrained remarks on the governor,” Chandel said while talking to the media.
