Bihar
SC Declines Interim Stay of Patna HC Decision
- 30 Jul 2024
- 2 min read
Why in News?
Recently, The Supreme Court has refused to stay the Patna High Court's order that set aside the increase in reservation for SC/STs, Backward Classes, and Extremely Backward Classes in Bihar from 50% to 65% in public employment and educational institutions.
Key Points
- The Patna High Court set aside the amended reservation laws in Bihar, which increased quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes from 50% to 65%, declaring the amendments as "ultra vires" of the Constitution, "bad in law" and "violative of the equality clause".
- The amendments had followed a caste survey, which put the percentage of Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes at 63% of the state's total population, while SCs and STs were stated to have accounted for more than 21%.
- After the quotas were hiked, reserved seats in the state, including those for the economically weaker sections, came to be 75% of the total.
Reservation
- Reservation is a form of positive discrimination, created to promote equality among marginalised sections and to protect them from social and historical injustice.
- It gives preferential treatment to marginalised sections of society in employment and access to education.
- It was also originally developed to correct years of discrimination and to give a boost to disadvantaged groups.
