• The Supreme Court asked the Centre whether it would like to revisit the limit of Rs 8 lakh annual income fixed for determining the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category for reservation in NEET admissions for medical courses.

• The top court clarified that it is not embarking into the policy domain but is only trying to ascertain whether constitutional principles have adhered or not.

What is the case about?

• The SC was hearing a batch of pleas challenging the Centre and Medical Counselling Committee (MCC) July 29 notice providing 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Class (OBC) and 10 per cent for EWS category in the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) admissions for medical courses.

• The top court asked whether any exercise was undertaken before fixing a limit of Rs 8 lakh annual income for determining the EWS category.

• It asked whether Major Gen (retd) SR Sinho Commission Report of 2010 was considered before ascertaining the criteria. Major Gen (retd) SR Sinho Commission was constituted by the UPA government in 2010 and has recommended welfare measures for the EWS category.

• Additional Solicitor General K.M. Nataraj, appearing for Centre, said that the commission’s report was one of the basis for determining the criteria but after that several deliberations were held and other factors were also taken into account.

• “Fixing of criteria of Rs 8 lakh is a pure policy matter and the court should not interfere with it. It was decided after proper application of mind,” he said.

What are the key points highlighted by the SC?

• The bench said that it is not going to tell the government as to what should be the limit, whether it should be Rs 4 lakh or Rs 6 lakh, because it is for the executive to decide but all it wants to know is what was the basis for fixing Rs 8 lakh as the limit.

• For determining creamy layer in Other Backward Classes (OBC) category the limit was fixed as Rs 8 lakh annual income and they were considered progressed class among OBCs and they were excluded from reservation benefits. Here, for the EWS category, the limit is the same Rs 8 lakh annual income but it was for inclusion in the reservation benefits, the bench said.

• “You cannot just pick Rs 8 lakh out of the thin air and fix it as a criteria. There has to be some basis, some study. Tell us whether any demographic study or data was taken into account in fixing the limit,” the SC bench added.

• It asked the Centre to respond to a question that since the income limit of determining the creamy layer in OBC category and EWS is the same that is Rs 8 lakh, whether it would be arbitrary to provide a similar income limit for EWS and OBC.

• As per the explanation in the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act says that criteria for EWS will be notified by the state governments, then how can the Centre notify a uniform EWS criterion for the whole of the country, it asked.  

Constitutional provisions

Article 15(4): Empowers the government to make special provisions for advancement of backward classes.

Article 16(4): Makes a provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any backward class of citizens. 

Article 46: Promotes the educational and economic interests of SCs, STs and other weaker sections of society and protects them from social injustice and exploitation.

In order to provide benefits to students belonging to the EWS category in admission to higher educational institutions, a Constitutional amendment was made in January 2019, which enabled the provision of 10 per cent reservation for the category.

In January 2019, the Parliament cleared the Constitution (One Hundred And Twenty-Fourth Amendment) Bill, 2019 and it was signed by President Ram Nath Kovind and became the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019.

New clause 6 was inserted in Article 15 (Prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth).

New clause 6 was inserted in Article 16 (Equality of opportunity in matters of public employment).

Additional read:

Evolution of reservation system for Backward Classes

Reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) was introduced even many years before Independence in most of the area comprising the presidencies and princely states south of the Vindhyas. The process gathered momentum in course of the censuses from 1881 to 1941. The Indian Constitution through the Preamble envisages the Indian Republic to achieve the objective of securing to its citizens social, economic and political justice, liberty, equality and fraternity. It also elaborates the methodology to be followed for reaching this goal of social justice. 

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