The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Patna High Court order striking down the amended reservation laws in Bihar. However, the apex court has listed the case for further hearing in September.
Hearing the Bihar government’s plea, a bench comprising Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justices J.B. Pardiwla and Manoj Misra refused to grant an interim stay on the High Court’s order setting aside the amendments made to reservation laws. The state government had increased reservation quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes from 50 to 65 per cent based on a caste census.
The bench agreed to hear 10 petitions of the Bihar government against the Patna HC verdict and has listed the matter in September.
Caste census and increasing reservation quota for backward castes based on their population was a key poll plank of the INDIA bloc during the Lok Sabha polls. Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who was then part of the INDIA bloc (and later switched sides to the BJP) conducted a caste census and increased reservation quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes in the state.
In its June 20 verdict, the Patna High Court declared that the amendments, passed unanimously by the state's bicameral legislature in November, were "ultra vires" of the Constitution, "bad in law" and "violative of the equality clause", PTI reported.
