On 30 April, soon after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Centre announced that caste enumeration would be conducted alongside the upcoming census, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reiterated his demand to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on quotas in India.
“The 50 per cent cap on reservations is becoming an impediment to the progress of our country and to the progress of Backward Castes, Dalits and Adivasis and we want this barrier to be eliminated,” Gandhi said on 30 April.
Gandhi addressed the media after Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs (CCPA), on 30 April approved the enumeration of castes in the upcoming Census — a surprising decision that the opposition, and Gandhi have long been demanding amid the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) resistance.
Gandhi against 50 per cent cap
Gandhi has previously spoken against the 50 per cent cap. At the All India Congress Committee’s (AICC) meeting held in April in Gujarat, the Rae Bareli Member of Parliament said that the party would demolish the wall restricting reservation to 50 per cent for the Scheduled Castes (SCs), Schedule Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs) while pushing for a caste census across the country.
Every time there is a debate on caste and reservation in India, there is a reference to the 50 per cent cap on quotas. Even the Supreme Court has struck down reservation attempts, citing this 50 per cent quota cap.
What is the 50 per cent cap on reservations in India? How did it evolve over the years? LiveMint explains.
Is 50 per cent quota cap a Constitutional mandate?
No. The 50 per cent upper cap on reservations has evolved over the years through rulings by the Supreme Court of India. Here are some landmark judgments related to reservations in India.
-In 1962, in the famous MR Balaji case, a five-judge bench of the Supreme Court said that reservations under Articles 15(4) and 16(4) must stay within ‘reasonable limits’ and ideally be below 50 per cent, depending on the circumstances.
-In 1992, in the famous Indra Sawhney judgement (Mandal Commission), a nine-judge bench ruled that reservations should be capped at 50 per cent as they are an exception to the principle of equality. This ruling became the base of the 50 per cent quota cap.
-In 2006, in the M Nagaraj case, the Supreme Court said states must collect quantifiable data on backwardness of communities and the overall impact before announcing any reservations.
-In March 2021, the Supreme Court, while hearing a case about Maratha quota, sought views from all states and Union territories on whether they were in favour of exceeding the court-mandated 50 per cent ceiling on quotas. The top court also asked the states if they feel that the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act had taken away their power to provide quotas.
It is another matter that the Court, in May 2021, declared the Maratha quota ‘unconstitutional.’
-In 2022, the Chhattisgarh High Court struck down a 2011 enactment by the Chhattisgarh Legislative Assembly increasing reservation in the state to 58 per cent for abrogating the 50 per cent ceiling on quota.
What does the Constitution say?
Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution prohibit discrimination and ensure equal opportunity. However, the same articles allow the state to make special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, as well as for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs), especially in education and public employment.
Article 15(4) allows the state to make special provisions for the advancement of socially and educationally backward classes or SCs/STs. Article 16(4) allows reservations in government jobs for backward classes that are not adequately represented in public services.
The Supreme Court during the Maratha Quota case in 2021 also asked the states to opine whether the 102nd Constitution Amendment Act of 2018 had taken away their powers to provide quotas.
The 102nd Amendment, granting constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC), added Articles 338 B and 342A to the Constitution giving powers to the Centre to notify any class or community as socially and educationally backward with respect to any state or Union Territory.
What is the landmark Indra Sawhney verdict?
In 1979, the Second Backward Classes Commission, popularly known as the Mandal Commission, was set up by PM Morarji Desai’s government to determine the criteria for defining socially and educationally backward classes.
The Mandal report identified 52 percent of the population at that time as ‘Socially and Economically Backward Classes’ (SEBCs) and recommended 27 per cent reservation for SEBCs in addition to the previously existing 22.5 per cent reservation for SC/STs.
The then PM VP Singh – led Union government, which wanted to implement the Mandal Commission report in 1990. But it was challenged in the Supreme Court. In 1992, a nine-judge bench that heard what is now known as the Indra Sawhney or the Mandal Commission judgement fixed a cap of 50 percent reservation.
Can the 50 per cent quota be breached?
The Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney judgement said that the cap can be breached under exceptional circumstances. Though the 50 per cent ceiling has remained the general rule for reservations in education and government jobs so far, yet there are exceptions in states.
Revisiting this judgment could mean altering the structure of reservations that has been in place in the country since 1992. For that, a solid empirical data will be key.
With the Centre announcing a caste census, the Centre or states may approach the Supreme Court with a new dataset about castes in India. But that will only happen once the census is done and numbers are released, which may take a lot of time.
Are there states with more than 50 per cent quota?
Many states have unsuccessfully tried to get the 50 per cent cap breached. Some have succeeded too. In Tamil Nadu, for example, the reservation quota has been 69 per cent since 1990. After the Supreme Court’s 1992 judgment, the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly passed legislation in 1993 to protect its 69 per cent quota from any interference.
A challenge to Tamil Nadu’s reservation policy has been pending at the Supreme Court since 2012.
The 50 per cent cap on reservations is becoming an impediment to the progress of our country and to the progress of Backward Castes, Dalits and Adivasis.
States in the North East – Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Sikkim – have more than 50 per cent seats reserved by virtue of the greater degree of autonomy these states have been accorded by the Constitution for their governance in the interest of their indigenous communities.
