Supreme Court rejects Patna HC order to cut Bihar reservation quota from 50 to 65% – India News

In a major setback for the Bihar government, the Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay a Patna High Court order that had nullified the state’s amended reservation laws, which had allowed the Nitish Kumar government to increase quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes from 50% to 65%.

A bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra agreed to hear up to 10 petitions filed by the Bihar government challenging a Patna High Court verdict.

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When the case was presented, the Supreme Court bench decided to grant leave to appeal against Bihar’s special leave petition. Senior advocate Shyam Divan, representing the State of Bihar, sought a stay of the High Court’s judgment. Divan argued that the Supreme Court had earlier passed an interim order in a similar case involving Chhattisgarh.

Despite this, the court refused to grant interim relief and scheduled the case for a hearing. Divan tried to convince the court for interim relief and requested the issuance of a notice of the interim applications. He argued that if a notice were issued, it would allow the court to consider the matter more thoroughly later, possibly by a larger court.

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However, Chief Justice Chandrachud maintained that no interim relief would be granted at this stage. When the court confirmed that the interim relief had been refused, Divan sought clarification that the relief had been refused only at this stage. The court agreed and Chief Justice Chandrachud stated in the order, “No interim relief will be granted at this stage,” rescheduling the case for September.

In its June 20 verdict, the Patna High Court held that the amendments unanimously passed by the Bihar legislature in November were “ultra vires” of the Constitution, “legally bad” and “violative of the equality clause”.