Supreme Court (SC) on Monday upheld the validity of the 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker section (EWS) under the 103rd Constitutional Amendment. In a 3 to 2 verdict, the five-member bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, UU Lalit, upheld the EWS quota on Monday.
CJI Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat dissented witht the majority judgment on the exclusion of SC/ST from the EWS quota.
CJI Lalit is set to retire on November 8.
SC said that the EWS quota does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution set under the Indra Sawhney Case (1992).
The judgment was pronounced by a five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice UU Lalit and also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi and JB Pardiwala.
Justice Dinesh Maheshwari in the judgment said the EWS quota law did not violate the basic structure or equality code for taking into account the economic criterion. He said the EWS reservation does not cause damage to any essential feature of the Constitution by exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling for quota since the ceiling is itself flexible.
Justice Bela M Trivedi said the 103rd constitutional amendment cannot be struck down on grounds of being discriminatory.
Justice JB Pardiwala concurred with their views and upheld the validity of the amendment.
However, Chief Justice UU Lalit and Justice Bhat dissented with the other three judges on the bench.
CJI UU Lalit and Justice Bhat said the law was discriminatory and violative of the basic structure of the Construction. (Business Standard)