Supreme Court Declines to Stay Patna High Court’s Order Scrapping Bihar’s 65% Quota

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday declined to stay the Patna High Court’s ruling, which annulled Bihar’s 65% reservation for backward classes.

The Bihar government had petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the High Court’s decision to void the increased quota, but the Supreme Court deferred detailed hearings until September.

The Patna High Court, on June 20, had invalidated the amendments passed by the Bihar Assembly in 2023, citing constitutional violations of equality under Articles 14, 15, and 16. This led the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar government to appeal to the Supreme Court on July 2.

The contested Reservation Amendment Bill, passed by the Bihar Assembly in November 2023 without Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s presence, proposed a new reservation structure: 20% for Scheduled Castes, 2% for Scheduled Tribes, and 43% for Other Backward and Extremely Backward Classes. Including the 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections, the total reservation exceeded the Supreme Court’s 50% cap, reaching 75%.