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Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India (EWS Reservation Reference)

Writ Petition (Civil) · 2020 INSC 475Decided 5 Aug 2020
Writ Petition (Civil) No. 55 of 2019
Chief Justice S.A. Bobde · Justice R. Subhash Reddy · Justice B.R. Gavai

Background

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. More than 30 writ petitions challenged the 103rd Constitutional Amendment, which introduced reservation for economically weaker sections.

Decision Breakdown

This is a referral order, not a final judgment. The three-judge bench held that the questions, whether the amendment breaches the basic structure and whether it can exceed the 50% ceiling, are substantial questions of constitutional law that need a bench of at least five judges under Article 145(3). It allowed the Union's transfer petitions and referred the whole batch to a Constitution Bench.

Lesson Learnt

There is no final ruling yet. The validity of EWS reservation will be decided by a Constitution Bench.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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