New Delhi: Supreme Court on Monday upheld the 103rd constitutional amendment that granted reservations of the economically weaker section (EWS) in higher education and issues of public employment on the basis of financial conditions.
Three out of the five judges uphold the constitutional amendment. They are Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M Trivedi, and J B Pardiwala.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat, one of the two other judges, struck down the constitutional amendment on the EWS quota in his minority views.
In September last week, the constitution bench comprising Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, Justice S Ravindra Bhat, Justice Bela M Trivedi and Justice JB Pardiwala, has reserved the order after all the parties concluded their arguments.
Constitution Bench was dealing with issues relating to the Constitutional validity of reservations on the basis of economic conditions. The court has begun hearing the matter on September 13 and the hearing was heard for seven days.
The petitioners had submitted before the Supreme Court that providing reservation on the basis of economic criteria, excluding SC, ST and OBC Non-Creamy Layer, breaches the equality code.
The Centre has earlier submitted before the Supreme Court that EWS reservation does not violate the basic structure.
The 103rd Amendment Act, 2019 enabled the State to make reservations in higher education and matters of public employment on the basis of economic criteria alone.
