The President’s inclusion of classes and communities in the Central List for SEBC “shall be deemed to include SEBCs in relation to each State and Union Territory”.
Explained: Supreme Court Judgement That Only Centre, Not States, Can Grant Backward Class Status To Groups
by Swarajya Staff - May 10, 2021 01:47 PM
The Supreme Court of India. (Wikimedia Commons)
Snapshot
The 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act makes the process of identifying the backward classes the same as that for SCs and STs.
Four days ago, in the Maratha reservation case, the Supreme Court of India (SC) passed a ruling on another important matter â the 102nd Constitutional Amendment Act (CAA) which concerns itself with socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC).
Under the Indian Constitution, apart from Scheduled Castes (SC) and Scheduled Tribes (ST), the government can also provide reservation benefits to the SEBC (although reservation cannot be claimed as a matter of right, the Supreme Court has held in Indra Sawhney case).
Apex court strikes down Maharashtra law on grant of quota to Marathas
May 05, 2021
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It also declined to revisit its 1992 Indira Sawhney judgment, which fixed the reservation limit at 50 per cent.
A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Wednesday unanimously declared a Maharashtra law that provides reservation benefits to the Maratha community, taking the quota limit in the State above 50 per cent unconstitutional.
The Bench led by Justice Ashok Bhushan found no “exceptional circumstances” or “extraordinary situation” in Maharashtra, which required the Maharashtra government to break the 50% ceiling limit to bestow quota benefits on the Maratha community.
The Supreme Court struck down the findings of Justice N.G. Gaikwad Commission which led to the enactment of the Maratha quota law and set aside the Bombay High Court judgment, which validated the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act of 2018.