PIL filed in Patna HC against hike in reservation for deprived castes

Patna: A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the court challenging the decision of the Nitish Kumar government enhancing the for backward, extremely backward, scheduled castes and tribes up to 65 per cent. This PIL has been filed by Gaurav Kumar and Naman Shrestha.

Bihar Legislature has passed the Bihar Reservation (Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Castes) (Amendment) Act, 2023, and Bihar (Admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023. In the PIL, a demand has been made to ban these amendments. The Bihar Legislative Assembly passed this amendment bill on November 10, 2023, and the Governor approved these laws on November 18, 2023. Earlier, the reservation was 50%.

Petitioners Gaurav Kumar and Naman Shrestha claimed that the enhancement of the reservation limit above 50% is a violation of the Constitution and the fundamental rights of the common people. As per the provision of the Constitution, the parameters of reservation would be given on the basis of social and financial status of the people belonging to the backward class and not on the basis of population of the caste,” Gaurav Kumar said.

“The Nitish Kumar government enhanced the reservation up to 65% on the basis of population of castes. Hence, 65% reservation has been given to EBC, OBC, SC and ST. This means 35% of people, who belong to other castes come under the general category. This is a violation of the fundamental rights of the common people in Bihar,” Kumar said. (With IANS Inputs)