New Delhi: A plea challenging the bill to provide 10 per cent reservation to general category poor in jobs and education was Thursday filed in the Supreme Court.
The petition, filed by Youth For Equality organisation and Kaushal Kant Mishra, sought the quashing of the bill saying that the economic criterion cannot be the sole basis for reservation.
The plea said the bill violates basic feature of the Constitution as reservation on economic grounds cannot be limited to the general categories and the 50 per cent ceiling limit cannot be breached.
The Rajya Sabha passed it with 165 voting in its favour and 7 against on Wednesday, a day after the Lok Sabha had approved The Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019. The Bill now goes to the President for approval.
It was contended that reservation on economic grounds cannot be limited to the general categories and that the 50 per cent ceiling limit cannot be breached.
Referring to the nine-judge bench decision of the apex court in the landmark 1992 Indira Sawhney case, the petition said the latest amendment completely violated the Constitutional norm that economic criterion cannot be the only basis of reservation.
“Such an amendment is hence vulnerable and ought to be struck down as it merely negates a binding judgement,” it said. (PTI)
