The Supreme Court today declined to suspend the Patna High Court ruling that had invalidated the state government’s 65% quota for backward classes, dealing a blow to the Nitish Kumar government in Bihar.
The state’s bicameral legislature approved the revisions overwhelmingly in November of last year, but the top court determined in its June 20 ruling that they were “ultra vires” of the Constitution, “bad in law,” and “violative of the equality clause.”
The high court 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.
“The state proceeded on the mere proportion of population of different categories as against their numerical representation in government services and educational institutions,” the high court said.
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