New Delhi— Supreme Court pronounced a crucial verdict on the reservation of Economically Weaker Sections. It mandates 10% reservation of the seats on an economic basis. The constitutional bench of 5 judges upheld the verdict with a majority of 3:2.

Three judges were in favour

Expressing his views Justice Dinesh Maheshwari has said that Quota is not a violation of basic structure of the constitution. Along with this Justice J.P. Pardiwala and Justice Bela M. Trivedi spoke in consonance with Maheshwari and favoured the Quota.

103^rd Constitutional Amendment termed Constitutional

The EWS reservation was approved by the Modi Government in its first term. 103^rd amendment has been termed constitutional. After the judgment people expressed their views on social media. While some upheld the judgment, others called it an attack on the basic structure of the constitution.

Ex-Social Welfare Minister of Delhi said to The Mooknayak that the judgment was a foregone conclusion, but the matter to be considered is that those who constitute just 12% of the population are being given 10% Reservation so that they get representation, whereas they are already overrepresented in the top posts.

Tamil Nadu CM MK Stalin has always been against this reservation. Expressing his displeasure over the Judgment he tweeted "the verdict of SC upholding EWS Quota is a setback for our century-long crusade for social justice. All the like-minded parties shall come together as one to fight the social injustice called EWS quota and carry the struggle forward".

Journalist Swati Mishra made a series of tweets after the verdict on the casteism prevalent in the country. Through the tweets, she has highlighted the treatment meted out to Dalits and Upper castes in the country. She writes " In our colony there is a Professor couple, Dalit by caste, big house, affluent lifestyle, the only Dalits in the colony of Brahmins and Kayasthas, I have never seen that they have been invited to any auspicious function …. On face people smile and wish Namaste….but behind the back they say '' No matter how much they earn they will be….

RLD leader Prashant Kanojia saw the judgment in a different light and tweeted "the Supreme Court has made it clear that to increase the OBC reservation there is no need for any Commission or any data and the government can provide data without any scientific data.

Tweeting in Marathi Prakash Ambedkar said that EWS reservation is corruption on an intellectual level through which the attempts are being made to implement Manusmriti.

Laxman Yadav, Assistant Professor at Delhi University said that reserving 10% seats for the Upper caste poor is patently casteist and turns the basic structure of the constitution on its head. This was also stated by Justice Bhatt and that is why we are opposing the EWS and will continue to do so in the future. Justice Bhatt and Justice Lalit will explain the people calling it (our opposition to EWS) against the poor of the upper castes.

[Story Translated By Pratikshit Singh]