10% QUOTA A ‘POLITICAL WEAPON’: LEGAL EXPERTS

The threshold in the new quota defining economically disadvantaged persons is suprisingly high. The Bill has now become a law and competition for general category will get tougher. This may amount to sacrifice of merit and also violate Article 14 of the C

Parliament on Wednesday approved amending the Constitution to provide 10 per cent reservation in jobs and education in the government to the poor from the general category. The government termed the landmark move as ‘slog over sixes’. As the BJP struggles to recover from the electoral insults in the recently concluded Assembly polls in Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh, this move comes less than six months before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Bill has been now approved by the President and is now a law. The 10 per cent reservation is in addition to the existing 50 per cent reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes, taking the total quota to 60 per cent.

However, legal experts have termed it as “unconstitutional” and a “political weapon” which is likely to be “challenged in the court of law”. Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi, Rajeev Dhavan and Ajit Sinha raised apprehensions on the Constitution (124th Amendment) Bill 2019.

“It is election time, hence, governments are taking measures. As long as it benefits the people it is all right. The real issue will be how far these reservations are going to help solve the problem of employment,” Dwivedi said.

Senior advocate Ajit Sinha said the Bill will require an amendment in Article 15, which says that the state shall not discriminate on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth. The Indira Sawhney judgement where the Supreme Court, vide its 1992 ruling, had set the cap for reservations at 50 per cent will also act as a legal hurdle.

“Reservation above the 50 per cent limit will be constitutionally sustainable or not is a question. As regard to Article 14 (right to equality) it is okay if economic condition is one of the grounds for reservation,” Sinha said. He further added that the creamy layer has to be removed and then economic criteria can be a ground for reservation but to what extent and whether it can go beyond 50 per cent is the issue.

The criteria for economic weaker sections nowhere figures in the Bill. It has been left to the states. Hence, the states can increase the income limit very high or can decrease it to very low. If the EWS is treated as a category just like the SC, ST and OBC, a large chunk of general category candidates will apply for just 10 per cent seats and the cut-offs can rise.