"The division bench of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice P P Sahu delivered the verdict on petitions challenging the state government's decision to amend the reservation rules in 2012 when the BJP was in power," said Mateen Siddiqui, the counsel for one of the petitioners.
Chhattisgarh HC sets aside 2012 state government's decision to hike quota to 58% in govt jobs, colleges
The Chhattisgarh High Court has set aside the 2012 state government's decision to hike the quota to 58 per cent in government jobs and admissions in educational institutions. The HC held that the reservation exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling is unconstitutional.
"The division bench of Chief Justice Arup Kumar Goswami and Justice P P Sahu delivered the verdict on petitions challenging the state government's decision to amend the reservation rules in 2012 when the BJP was in power," said Mateen Siddiqui, the counsel for one of the petitioners.
"As per the 2012 amendment, the Scheduled Caste quota was cut by 4 per cent to 12 per cent, while for the Scheduled Tribes it was increased by 12 per cent; i.e. from 20 per cent to 32 per cent. However, the OBC reservation was kept unchanged at 14 per cent," he said.
"After the amendment, the cumulative reservation in the state went up to 58 per cent breaching the 50 per cent ceiling limit, In the same year, Guru Ghasidas Sahitya Samiti and other petitioners challenged it in the high court. The hearing of the case was completed in July and the order was passed on Monday," said Siddiqui.
As per the order, Vinay Kumar Pandey, the counsel appearing for the petitioners, submitted that as the reservation has exceeded 50 per cent, it has violated the principles of equality of opportunity under Article 16(1) of the Constitution.
“No materials have been placed before this Court to justify the impugned amendment brought in by Amendment Act of 2011 and such amendment has been effected breaching 50 per cent ceiling without any exercise being undertaken with regard to representation of various classes such as SCs, STs and OBCs in service. No exceptional circumstance is made out for breaching the 50 per cent ceiling of reservation and the state has brought the amendment as a measure of proportional representation, which is not permissible in law,” Pandey said.
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