New Delhi, Sep 8 : The Supreme Court said on Thursday that starting on September 13, it will begin hearing petitions contesting the legality of the 103rd Constitutional amendment, passed in 2019 to grant 10% quotas for economically less privileged groups (EWS) in jobs and education.Attorney General (AG) K.K.Venugopal suggested a number of important issues.For instance, whether the 103rd Constitutional amendment could be deemed to violate the fundamental framework of the Constitution by allowing the state to create special reservations, for instance that are based on economic factors?
What if the 103rd Constitution amendment is able to be in violation of the fundamental framework of the Constitution by allowing the state to create special regulations in regard to admission into private institutions that are not aided by the state?
Can the amendment be argued to be in violation of the fundamental constitution of the Constitution in addition in exclusion of the SEBCS/OBCs/SCs/STs the area of EWS reservation?
Five-judge Constitution bench, headed by Chief Justice U.U.Lalit said that the three questions that were suggested by the AG broadly covered all issues raised in the lawsuits challenging Constitutional legitimacy of the 103rd Constitutional amendment.
The bench, comprised of justices Dinesh Maheshwari, S.Ravindra Bhat, Bela M.Trivedi, and J.B.Pardiwala, noted the issues posed by various counsel and decided to address the three questions proposed by the AG as the central issues to be resolved.
The bench set the group of pleas made by the NGO ‘Janhit Abhiyan’ along with others to be heard on September 13.
Senior attorneys P.Wilson, Sanjay Parikh, and other counsels suggested their own points to be considered by the court.
Senior attorney Gopal Sankaranarayanan has stated that there are more than 55 of these issues, suggested by counsel representing different parties in the case.
The Centre had previously told the court that a 10%% EWS allocation was made to ensure equality of opportunity by ensuring equality of opportunity in the higher educational system and work for those who are excluded due to their financial situation.
A three-judge panel of the Apex court in August 2020 had referred the case in questioning its legitimacy to the Constitution bench.
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