EWS reservation: SC to hear from July 30 pleas against Centre’s 10% quota

The Supreme Court Monday said it will hear from July 30 a bunch of pleas challenging the Centres decision to grant 10 per cent reservation in jobs and admissions to candidates of economically weaker sections (EWS). The top court said it will also hear a plea for interim stay on the operation of the new controversial law. A bench of Justices S A Bobde and B R Gavai said that the matter requires hearing at length. Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for some of the petitioners including a NGO Janhit Abhiyan said that the operation of the Act needs to be stayed. The bench said the issue requires hearing at length and it would hear the petition along with all intervening applications in support and against the new law from July 30. The apex court had earlier refused to stay the Centres decision to grant 10 per cent quota in jobs and admissions to poor candidates in the general category. However, the court had agreed to examine the validity of the law and issued a notice to the Centre on the pleas. One of the petitioners has sought quashing of the Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019, saying economic criterion cannot be the sole basis for reservation. The petitioner has said the bill violates the basic feature of the Constitution as reservation on economic grounds cannot be limited to the general category and the overall 50 per cent ceiling limit cannot be breached. The Centre has come out with the constitutional amendment bill giving quota benefits to the poor among general category candidates. The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha cleared the bill on January 8 and 9 respectively, and it has been signed by President Ram Nath Kovind. The quota will be over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes.