The 50% Reservation Cap: A Constitutional Debate Rekindled by Telangana
UPSC Relevance
Prelims: Indian Polity and Governance (Reservation, Judiciary - Landmark Judgments like the Indra Sawhney case, 73rd & 74th Constitutional Amendments, Other Backward Classes - OBCs).
Mains:
General Studies Paper 2 (Polity, Governance, Social Justice): Indian Constitution—historical underpinnings, evolution, features, amendments, significant provisions and basic structure; Functions and responsibilities of the Union and the States; Welfare schemes for vulnerable sections of the population and the performance of these schemes; mechanisms, laws, institutions and Bodies constituted for the protection and betterment of these vulnerable sections. The reservation policy and the 50% ceiling are perennial and important topics.
Key Highlights from the News
Telangana High Court stayed the Telangana government's order providing 42% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC) in local bodies elections.
The Telangana government challenged this stay in the Supreme Court.
Main reason for the dispute: With 42% OBC reservation, the total reservation (SC+ST+OBC) would become 67%. This violates the Supreme Court's earlier ruling that 50% ceiling on reservation should not be exceeded.
Telangana Government's main argument:
The 50% limit is not a strict law, but merely a "general guiding principle."
There is no provision in the Constitution that sets a 50% limit on reservation.
This case once again revives the constitutional debates about the 50% reservation limit.
The Supreme Court first set the 50% limit in the Indra Sawhney case (Mandal Commission case) in 1992.
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