New Delhi : The Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court will still hear the petitions challenging the EWS reservation. The five -member constitution bench headed by Chief Justice UU Lalit is hearing.
During the hearing on 20 September, Attorney General KK Venugopal on behalf of the Central Government defended the EWS reservation and said that it is for the weaker sections of the society. SC, ST and OBC are backward castes in itself. But there are weaker sections in the general category which are recognized in sections 15 (5) and 15 (6) of the Constitution. EWS has a total population of 25 per cent in the country.
On this, Chief Justice UU Lalit had said that whether there is any figure that should tell how much the EWS percent is in the general category. Attorney General said that 18.1 percent. Then Justice Bhatt said that the last census took place in 2011. What is the update after that. The Attorney General said that a large number of which is meritorious may be deprived of applying in government jobs and educational institutions. The EWS reservation is not having the rights of SC, ST and OBC. This is different from fifty percent. There is no case of violation of the original structure.
Senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayan said that the principle of equality has not been violated by excluding backward castes from EWS. A commission is needed in this matter. The EWS is not on an ethnic basis, as it includes the poor sections of Muslims, Christians and Sikhs. If there was talk of caste in it, then Muslims, Christians and Sikhs would not have been there. On this, Justice S Ravindra Bhatt said that this is not the right concept.
The lawyer appearing for the Tamil Nadu government said that in the decision of Indira Sahni, caste has been considered as social class. This decision states that any classification on economic grounds is a violation of section 14. He said that Section 14 is part of the core structure of the constitution and is based on the principle of equality. He said that economic questions are a violation of economic criteria in itself.