Patna High Court Strikes Down Law Which Raised Reservation to 65% From 50%

New Delhi: The Patna High Court on Thursday struck down the amendment passed by the Bihar Assembly in 2023 which raised the reservation in the state form 50 to 65 percent. The decision to raise reservation for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was taken on the basis of the caste survey conducted by the Bihar government. 

A division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar of the Patna High Court passed the order after hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the Bihar law that raised reservation from 65 per cent from the existing 50 per cent. The petitions claimed that the amendments were violative of equal opportunity for citizens in matters of employment and education.

The Patna High Court said the act that seek to increase reservation in the state of Bihar is unconstitutional and violates Articles 14, 15 and 16. Ritika Rani, one of the counsels appearing for the petitioners, said, "We had submitted that the amendments to the reservation laws were violative of the Constitution". "After hearing both sides, the court had reserved its judgement in March. Today the final order has come and our petitions have been allowed", she told PTI-Bhasha.

Bihar Hiked Reservation 

Bihar (Enrollment in Educational Institutions) Reservation Amendment Bill, 2023 and Bihar Reservation in vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Amendment Bill, 2023 were unanimously passed by the Bihar assembly-led by Chief Minister Nitish Kumar in November last year. 

The amendments sought to increase the existing 50 per cent reservation to 65 per cent. Thus, putting 75 per cent of total seats under the reserved category as a 10 per cent reservation for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category also in place. 

What Nitish Kumar Said? 

Nitish Kumar has asserted that the reservation provisions are being revised to grant representation to every community as per their population in the state, as reflected in the results of caste-based survey conducted by the Bihar government.

Taking a cue from the same, several Opposition parties including the Congress pitched for a pan-India caste census.