In a pivotal judgement, Supreme Court upheld the 10 % EWS quota stating that ‘It doesn’t violate basic structure of constitution.’

The apex court delivered its verdict on the validity of the central law for 10 percent reservation benefits for the economically weaker sections (EWS). A five judge bench upheld the validity of Constitution’s103rd Amendment Act 2019, by 3:2 verdict. CJI Lalit, Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M Trivedi and JB Pardiwala passed the judgment upholding the Act.

“The EWS quota law doesn’t violate basic structure or equality code for taking into account economic criterion,” Justice Dinesh Maheshwari said as the top court upheld the law. “It doesn’t also cause damage to any essential feature by exceeding 50 per cent ceiling for quota since the ceiling is itself flexible.”  

Adding further, Justice Maheshwari said, “the EWS amendment does not violate the equality code or the essential features of the Constitution.”

“There are four judgments to be delivered on the issue relating to the constitutional validity of reservations of the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) in higher education and issues of public employment on the basis of financial conditions,” Chief Justice of India UU Lalit said on Monday.

The bench had been dealing with the concerns regarding the constitutional validity of reservations on the grounds of economic conditions. The court began hearing the matter on 13 September and hearing continued for seven days.

The constitutional validity of the 103rd Amendment Act, 2019 entitled state to make reservations in higher education and public employment on the grounds of economic parameters.