Centre seeks review of Supreme Court judgement on backward class list

The centre has requested the Supreme Court to give the power for the same to the states.

"The Constitution Bench of the Hon’ble Supreme Court has pronounced Judgement dated 5.5.2021 in the matter of Writ Petition NO.938 of 2020 Shri Shiv Sangram V/s Union of India and other various Civil Appeals involving interpretation of the provisions of the Constitution 102nd Amendment Act,2018," the Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment said in a statement.

The Centre in its petition said the power of states to add communities in the SEBC list can't be scrapped.

"As provided in the Supreme Court Rules, 2013, a Review Petition for review of the judgement of the Hon’ble Supreme Court has been filed by the Union of India on 13thMay,2021," the government statement added.

On May 5, the Supreme Court had cancelled the Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 which provided the Maratha community reservation in government jobs and educational institutions, saying it exceeded the 50 per cent cap imposed earlier.

A five-judge bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta, and S Ravindra Bhat, studying the constitutional validity of the 16 per cent reservation brought in by the earlier BJP government in Maharashtra, said the move violated equality.

"States have no power to add any caste to socially economically backward caste list due to the amendment made by Parliament," the apex court observed.

"States can only identify the castes and suggest to the Centre...Only President can add the caste to SEBC list guided by the National Backward Classes Commission."