On Monday the Supreme Court refused to stay Patna High Court order that set aside the increase in reservation for Backward Classes, SC & ST from 50 % to 65 % in public employment and admission to educational institutions.
A bench of Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices J B Pardiwla and Manoj Misra, however, agreed to hear at least 10 petitions of the Bihar government against the Patna HC verdict. The top court, which did not even issue notices on the pleas, granted leave for appeal and said the petitions will be heard in September.
Appearing for the state government, senior advocate Shyam Divan requested the bench to stay the High Court order. He referred to a similar case of Chhattisgarh and said that the top court had then stayed the order of the high court.
We will list the matter, but we will not grant any stay (on the HC verdict), said the CJI-led bench. In its June 20 verdict, the high court had ruled that the amendments, passed by the state’s bicameral legislature in November last year, were ultra vires of the Constitution, bad in law and violative of the equality clause.
The high court had made it clear that it saw no extenuating circumstance enabling the state to breach the 50% cap on reservations laid down by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case.
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