Chhattisgarh HC seeks state govt's stand on plea against hike in quota limit

The Chhattisgarh High Court has sought the state government's stand on two petitions challenging the Constitutional validity of an ordinance, hiking the reservation limit in state jobs to 82 per cent breaching the 50 per cent cap.

Admitting the two pleas, filed separately by Vedprakash Singh Thakur and Aditya Tiwari, a bench of Chief Justice P R Ramachandra Menon and Justice P P Sahu on Friday issued notice to the government and slated the matter for hearing after ten days.

The petitions challenge the government's September 4 notification titled "Chhattisgarh Lok Seva (Anusuchit Jatiyon, Anusucihit Jan Jatiyon aur Anya Pichhade Vargon ke liye arakshan) (Sanshodhan) Ordinance, 2019 related to amendments in quota limits for the government jobs.

Thakur's counsel Anish Tiwari said the ordinance seeks to raise the quota for Scheduled Castes from 12 per cent to 13 per cent and 14 per cent to 27 per cent for Other Backward Classes.

No change has been made in the quota for Scheduled Tribes quota, which remains 32 per cent, he added.

The ordinance also seeks to offer 10 per cent reservation to the economically weaker sections, taking the total percentage of reservation to 82 per cent in the state, he said.

"Under the new ordinance, the reservation is touching 82 per cent when it should not exceed more than 50 per cent as per a Supreme Court's order," said Anish Tiwari, recalling the law laid down by the apex court in the 1993 Indira Sawhney case.

Advocate General Satish Chandra Verma, who appeared in the case, said the high court did not give any relief to petitioners and gave time to the government to file its reply.