The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Patna High Court’s order that annulled the increase in reservation for Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes (SC), and Scheduled Tribes (ST) from 50 percent to 65 percent in public employment and educational institutions in Bihar.
The bench, comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, agreed to hear at least 10 petitions filed by the Bihar government challenging the Patna HC verdict. The Supreme Court, however, did not issue notices on the pleas but granted leave for appeal, scheduling the hearings for September.
Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the Bihar government, urged the bench to stay the HC order, citing a similar case in Chhattisgarh where the Supreme Court had stayed the high court’s order.
“We will list the matter, but we will not grant any stay (on the HC verdict),” responded the Chief Justice-led bench.
The Patna High Court, in its June 20 verdict, had declared the amendments, passed unanimously by the state’s bicameral legislature in November of the previous year, as “ultra vires” of the Constitution, “bad in law,” and “violative of the equality clause.”
The high court emphasized that it found “no extenuating circumstance enabling the state to breach” the 50% cap on reservations established by the Supreme Court in the landmark Indra Sawhney case.
