Supreme Court Refuses to Stay Patna High Court's Order Scrapping Bihar's 65% Quota for Backward Classes

The Supreme Court on Monday refused to stay the Patna High Court’s order which had scrapped the 65% quota for Backward Classes in Bihar. The Bihar Government had filed a petition in the Supreme Court against the Patna High Court’s order to scrap the government’s decision to increase the reservation from 50% to 65%. The Chief Minister Nitish Kumar led Bihar Government had moved to the Supreme Court against the High Court’s order on July 2.

A division bench of the Patna High Court in its June 20 verdict struck down the amendments passed by the Bihar Assembly in November 2023, saying that they were “ultra vires” of the Constitution, “bad in law” and violated the equality clause under Articles 14, 15, and 16 of the Constitution. The Bihar Assembly had passed the Reservation Amendment Bill in November 2023 and the bill was passed in the state assembly without Nitish Kumar’s presence.

The Amended Reservation Quota included 20% for Scheduled Castes, 2% for Scheduled Tribes and 43% for Other Backward Classes and Extremely Backward Classes in the state after the Bihar government carried out a caste survey last year. When combined with the 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Section, the reservation was pushed up to 75% against the 50% cap on reservations laid down by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case. The quota hike was applicable in jobs and educational institutions in Bihar.​