Supreme Court rejects stay of Patna HC verdict cancelling 65 per cent reservation

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Patna High Court order quashing the increase in reservations for backward classes, scheduled castes (SC) and scheduled tribes (ST) from 50 per cent to 65 per cent in public employment and educational institutions in Bihar.

The bench, comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra, agreed to hear at least 10 petitions filed by the Bihar government challenging the Patna HC verdict. However, the Supreme Court did not issue notices on the petitions but granted leave for appeals, scheduling hearings for September.

Advocate Shyam Divan, representing the Bihar government, urged the court to stay the Supreme Court order, citing a similar case in Chhattisgarh where the Supreme Court had stayed the high court order.

“We will list the matter but we will not grant any stay (of the Supreme Court verdict),” the Chief Justice-led bench replied.

The Patna High Court in its June 20 verdict had declared the amendments, which were unanimously passed by the state’s bicameral legislature in November the previous year, as “ultra vires” of the Constitution, “bad in law” and “violative of the equality clause”.

The Supreme Court stressed that it had found “no extenuating circumstances” that would allow the state to exceed the 50% reservation cap set by the Supreme Court in the landmark Indra Sawhney case.