New Delhi: The Supreme Court has said it can reconsider the 1992 court order fixing 50 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the socially and economically backward sections. The bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, issued notice to all state governments to comment on the issue of granting reservation above the existing limit of 50 per cent.
The court observed that the verdict in the three-decade-old Indra Sahani case could be reconsidered while considering a series of petitions questioning the validity of the Maratha reservation. The court pointed out that the issue of reservation was not a matter for any one state and therefore all states should be consulted.
In the Indra Sahani case, the Supreme Court had held that reservation above 50 per cent was a violation of the equal rights guaranteed by the Constitution. It was with this case that the court set the limit for reservation.
Last year, the Supreme Court quashed a law in Maharashtra that provides for 12-13 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for the Maratha community. At the time, the Supreme Court had ruled that the 50 per cent quota could not be exceeded on the grounds of social, economic and educational backwardness or under-representation of the community in government service.
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