With 3:2 split verdict, Supreme Court upholds 10% EWS quota: Key points

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the validity of the 103 constitutional amendment providing 10 per cent reservation to people belonging to economically weaker sections (EWS) in admissions and government jobs with 3:2 split verdict.

At the outset, the chief justice of India UU Lalit said there are four different judgments on pleas challenging the EWS quota.



The majority bench comprised justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela Trivedi and JB Pardiwala, who upheld the EWS amendment. CJI Lalit and Justice Ravindra Bhat passed a dissenting judgment.

Here are the key points of the five-bench Supreme Court verdict:

• Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, reading out the verdict, said that 103rd constitutional amendment for EWS quota is valid and does not violate basic structure of constitution.
• He said that the EWS reservation does not cause damage to any essential feature of the Constitution by exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling for quota since the ceiling is itself flexible.
• "The 103rd constitutional amendment cannot be struck down on grounds of being discriminatory," justice Bela Trivedi said.
• She added that there is a need to revisit the reservation policy and it should have time span.
• Justice JB Pardiwala saidthat the reservation cannot go on for indefinite period and agreed with Justice Trivedi to re-examine reservation policy.
• Justice Ravindra Bhat, disagreeing with the majority verdict on validity of 103rd constitutional amendment, said that leaving out the poor from SCs/STs/ OBCs from availing the reservation benefit under EWS category is discriminatory. The chief justice agreed with Justice Bhat.

The five-judge constitution bench, headed by CJI Lalit, pronounced its verdict on three questions framed by it regarding validity of EWS quota.



The first issue was whether reservation based on economic criteria is permitted under the Constitution and whether it would go against the basic structure if allowed. The second said whether the 103rd amendment can be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution by permitting the state to make special provisions in relation to admission to private unaided institutions. The third question was whether the amendment can be said to breach the basic structure in excluding the SEBCs (Socially and Educationally Backward Classes)/OBCs/SCs/STs from the scope of EWS reservation.