Patna High Court Nixes Reservation Quota Hike

Patna- The Patna High Court on Thursday struck down the state government's decision to increase the reservation quota for backward classes, including scheduled castes, and scheduled tribes (SCs and STs) in government jobs and educational institutions to 65 per cent from 50 per cent.

Earlier, the court had reserved a hearing on the issue on March 11. A division bench of Chief Justice K Vinod Chandran and Justice Haris Kumar held that the state government had violated the constitution by increasing the reservation quota.

The state government had notified rules in November 2023 that increased the reservation quota for economically weaker sections (EWS) to 75 per cent in the state government and educational institutions. The reservation quota for SC/STs was 50 per cent. The court had held that the state government had violated the constitution by increasing the reservation quota.

A petition was filed in the Patna High Court by petitioner Gaurav Kumar, challenging the decision of the Nitish government. The petitioner argued that as per the Supreme Court’s judgement, the reservation can’t extend beyond 50 per cent.

The Nitish government’s decision would have brought the quota to a total of 75 per cent in the state, which included 20 per cent for SCs, 2 per cent for STs, 25 per cent for Extremely Backward Classes, 18 per cent for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and 10 per cent for Economically Backward Classes.

Last year, the Punjab and Haryana High Court also nullified a legislation by the Haryana government, which sought to provide 75 per cent reservation in Haryana-based industries for state residents