Supreme Court Issues Notice On Chhattisgarh's Plea For 58% Reservation Quota

The Supreme Court Friday sought response on an appeal challenging a Chhattisgarh High Court order which set aside the state government's 2012 decision to raise the quota to 58 per cent in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions.

A bench of Justices B R Gavai and Vikram Nath issued notices to Guru Ghasidas Sahitya Avam Sanskriti Academy against the September 19, 2022 order of the high court.

The state government, in its plea filed through advocate Sumeer Sodhi, contended that the Chhattisgarh High Court passed the order without examining the facts of the case and the figures supplied.

The high court had set aside the state government's 2012 decision to raise the quota to 58 per cent in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions and held that reservation exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling is unconstitutional.

The HC had delivered the verdict on petitions challenging the state government's decision to amend reservation rules in 2012. According to the 2012 amendment, the quota for Scheduled Castes (SCs) was slashed by four per cent to 12 per cent, while reservation for Scheduled Tribes (STs) was increased by 12 per cent — from 20 per cent to 32 per cent. The reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was kept unchanged at 14 per cent.

After the amendment, the cumulative reservation in the state went up to 58 per cent breaching the 50 per cent ceiling limit.

In the same year, Guru Ghasidas Sahitya Avam Sanskriti Academy and other petitioners challenged it in the high court.

The counsel appearing for the petitioner had submitted that as the reservation has exceeded 50 per cent, it has violated the principles of equality of opportunity under Article 16(1) of the Constitution. 

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