In a landmark ruling Monday, the Supreme Court upheld by a 3-2 majority the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 introducing 10 percent reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) among the unreserved categories in admissions and government jobs.

The majority view, as enunciated by one of the five judges of the Constitution Bench, described reservation as “an instrument not only for inclusion of socially and educationally backward classes to the mainstream of society, but also for the inclusion of any class or section so disadvantaged”. the amendment does not violate the basic structure of the Constitution

The petitions challenged the validity of Constitution (103rd) Amendment Act 2019. Economic reservation in jobs and education was proposed to be provid ded by inserting clause (6) in Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution through the amendment passed by the Parliament in January 2019. The newly inserted Article 15(6) enabled the State to make special provisions for advancement of any economically weaker s of citizens, including reservations in educational institutions.

LEARNING FROM HOME/ WITHOUT CLASSES/ BASICS

Article 16 deals with the equality of opportunity in matters of public employment.

No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, descent, place of birth, residence or any of them, be ineligible for, or discriminated against in
respect of, any employment or office under the State.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent Parliament from making any law prescribing, in regard to a class or classes of employment or appointment to an office under the Government of, or any local or other authority within, a State or Union territory, any requirement as
to residence within that State or Union territory prior to such employment or appointment

(4) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favor of any backward class of citizens which, in the opinion of the State, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.

Article 16(4-A), inserted vide Constitution (Seventy-Seventh) Amendment Act, 1995, introduced the provision of reservation in matters of promotion with consequential seniority. (The provision of ‘Consequential Seniority’ was introduced vide Constitution (Eighty- Fifth) Amendment Act, 2001).

1) The State shall not discriminate against any citizen on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them.

(2) No citizen shall, on grounds only of religion, race, caste, sex, place of birth or any of them, be subject to any disability, liability, restriction or condition with regard to—

     (a) access to shops, public restaurants, hotels and places of public entertainment; or

     (b) the use of wells, tanks, bathing ghats, roads and places of public resort maintained wholly or partly out of State funds or dedicated to the use of the general public.

(3) Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any special provision for women and children.

 (4) Nothing in this article or in clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making any special provision for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.

(5) Nothing in this article or in sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 shall prevent the State from making any special provision, by law, for the advancement of any socially and educationally backward classes of citizens or for the Scheduled Castes or the Scheduled Tribes in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30.

 (6) Nothing in this article or sub-clause (g) of clause (1) of article 19 or clause (2) of article 29 shall prevent the State from making,—

     (a) any special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes mentioned in clauses (4) and (5); and

     (b) any special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes mentioned in clauses (4) and (5) in so far as such special provisions relate to their admission to educational institutions including private educational institutions, whether aided or unaided by the State, other than the minority educational institutions referred to in clause (1) of article 30, which in the case of reservation would be in addition to the existing reservations and subject to a maximum of ten per cent. of the total seats in each category.

     Explanation.—For the purposes of this article and article 16, “economically weaker sections” shall be such as may be notified by the State from time to time on the basis of family income and other indicators of economic disadvantage.

Consequently, the Constitution (103 amendment) Act, 2019 was passed and as a result, Article 15 was amended to include clause (6). This was done to provide equal opportunity to EWS as they had been disadvantaged economically and socially due to pre-independence discrimination and difficulties.

The Supreme Court recognized BASIC STRUCTURE concept for the first time in the historic Kesavananda Bharati case in 1973. the apex court held that some features of the Constitution lay at its core and required much more than the usual procedures to change them.

the concept of basic structure included:

# Supremacy of the Constitution # Republican and democratic form of government # Secular character of the Constitution # Separation of powers between the legislature, executive and the judiciary # Federal character of the Constitution