New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday reserved its order after two days of hearing on whether to refer to the Constitution Bench or not the 10 per cent reservation to economically weaker sections (EWS) in government jobs and higher education effected through the constitutional amendment last January.
The Bench of Justices Sharad Bobde, R Subhash Reddy and B R Gavai, however, did not spell out when its order will come. On July 1, the Apex Court had refused to stay the reservation, saying the matter requires hearing at length.
On Wednesday the Bench said it would deal with the demand for stay only after deciding whether it hears the petitions or refer them to a Constitution Bench.
Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, argued on Wednesday that the 3-judge Bench is competent to handle the matter since 10 per cent reservation to EWS does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution to require the hearing by a Constitution Bench. He said it is an honest attempt to benefit the deprived poor in the general category.
He said the EWS reservation will uplift around 20 crore people who are below the poverty line even after over 70 years of independence. He said nobody can say that such people should not be given a "helping hand." The Bench agreed with him, saying "poor people need the help of the state, not the rich ones."
Venugopal dismissed arguments that this reservation exceeds 50 per cent as "fallacious," noting that it can be exceeded in exceptional circumstances and pointed out that the reservation is 68 per cent in Tamil Nadu and that was upheld by the High Court and not stayed even by the Supreme Court.
Asked if the Court should stay the EWS quota until complete hearing, he quipped that this is a constitutional amendment and "to the best of my knowledge, except NJAC (National Judicial Appointments Commission), no constitutional amendment was ever stayed."
He also noted that the quota is over and above the reservation enjoyed by Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Contending that the EWS quota breaches the ceiling declared by the top court in the judgments by its various Constitution Benches, senior advocate Rajeev Dhawan appearing for one of the petitioners reiterated need to refer the matter to a larger Bench to decide the question of basic structure of equality altered by the 103rd constitutional amendment.