Bihar Govt. challenges Patna HC verdict on reservation in Supreme Court

New Delhi: On Tuesday, the Bihar government filed an appeal in the Supreme Court challenging the Patna High Court's June 20 decision, which annulled the increase in reservation for Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, and Scheduled Tribes (SC/STs) from 50% to 65% in educational institutions and government jobs, The Hindu reported.

"The Patna HC verdict is contrary to the law laid down by this Court," stated Manish Kumar, the lawyer representing the Bihar government.

A two-judge bench of the Patna High Court, led by Chief Justice K. Vinod Chandran and Justice Harish Kumar, had invalidated the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes) Amendment Act, 2023, and The Bihar (In admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023. They deemed these amendments "ultra vires of the constitution and violative of the equality clause under Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution," urging the state to reconsider the reservation percentage within the 50% limit and exclude the 'creamy layer' from benefits.

The Bihar government has now approached the Supreme Court seeking to overturn the High Court's ruling. Sources within the Supreme Court staff and registry indicated that the appeal might be heard within the next one to two weeks.

In its appeal, the Bihar government argued that the High Court had erroneously set aside the amendments. The state emphasized that it is the only one to have conducted a comprehensive Caste Survey Report on the socio-economic and educational conditions of its entire population. The state maintained that it had adhered to binding Supreme Court decisions before amending the reservation acts.

The government contended that the High Court failed to appreciate the true intent of Article 16(4) of the Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in landmark cases such as Indira Sawhney and Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil. They argued that the High Court overstepped its bounds by replacing the state's assessment of adequate representation with its own opinion.

The Bihar government further asserted that the 50% ceiling on reservations is not an inviolable rule and can be exceeded in exceptional circumstances. Based on the Caste Census, the government concluded that backward classes were not adequately represented, justifying the reservation increase.s a need to enhance affirmative action to achieve the Constitutional goal of substantive equality, it said.