Gujarat HC quashes 10% quota for upper caste poor

The Gujarat High Court on 4 August rejected the ordinance of 10% reservation for the upper caste poor.

The petition alleged that the special provision for reservation is "contrary to fundamental rights".

On 1 May this year, the state government issued the Gujarat Unreserved Economically Weaker Sections (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) Ordinance, 2016, against the backdrop of the agitation by Patidar community seeking reservation.

According to a reports, the notification provides 10% reservation to persons from upper caste poor other than Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs) and Socially and Economically Backward Classes (SEBCs) for admissions in government educational institutions and jobs in the public sector.

The petitioner Jayantbhai Manani had said that such a provision is contrary to the judgement (Indra Sawhney Vs Union of India) delivered by the SC in 1992 which had challenged quota for Other Backward Classes (OBC) on the recommendation of Mandal Commission in 1990.