SC dismisses pleas seeking review of its verdict upholding 10 per cent reservation to EWS
New Delhi, May 16: The Supreme Court has dismissed a batch of pleas seeking review of its verdict upholding the 10 per cent reservation introduced in 2019 for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in educational institutions and government jobs that excluded the poor among the SC/ST/OBC categories.
A five-judge bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud said there was no ground to reconsider the verdict.
It also rejected the plea to list the petitions for hearing in open court.
The Supreme Court passed the order on May 9 and a copy of it was uploaded on the court website on Tuesday.
"Having perused the review petitions, there is no error apparent on the face of the record. No case for review.... The review petitions are, therefore, dismissed," the bench also comprising Justices Dinesh Maheshwari (since retired), S Ravindra Bhat, Bela M Trivedi and J B Pardiwala said.
The top court's order came on a batch of appeals, including the pleas filed by Society for the Rights of Backward Communities and Congress leader Jaya Thakur, seeking review of the apex court's November 7, 2022 judgement.
In its landmark judgement, a five-judge Constitution bench had said that the use of basic structure doctrine as a "sword" to "stultify" the State's effort to do economic justice cannot be countenanced.
It had delivered a 3:2 majority decision in favour of the 103rd Constitution Amendment.
While upholding the 10 per cent reservation introduced in 2019 for EWS in admissions and government jobs that excluded the poor among the SC/ST/OBC categories, the apex court had said it is not discriminatory or violative of any essential feature of the Constitution.
Treating the EWS as a separate category is a reasonable classification and the 50 per cent ceiling on the total reservation under the Mandal judgment is "not inflexible", the judges had said while dismissing the petitions challenging the validity of the law.
The bench headed by then Chief Justice U U Lalit had delivered four judgments on 40 petitions against the amendment that was passed after the Narendra Modi government decided to grant quota to the economically weaker sections ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
Justices Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela M Trivedi and J B Pardiwala had upheld the EWS quota.
The then CJI was in minority with Justice S Ravindra Bhat when they ruled against it, holding that due to exclusion of the poor of classes like SCs, STs, and OBCs from its ambit, the amendment "practises constitutionally prohibited forms of discrimination".
The apex court had held that reservation is an instrument of affirmative action by the State so as to ensure an all-inclusive march towards the goals of an egalitarian society while counteracting inequalities.
The EWS quota is over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation to Scheduled Castes (SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs), and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Traffic fraud: Fake 'no-entry' sticker racket busted in Delhi, mastermind among 3 held
New Delhi (PTI): Police here have busted a crime syndicate involved in traffic fraud and extortion, arresting three people including the alleged mastermind who sold fake stickers to help commercial vehicles bypass no-entry restrictions, an official said on Saturday.
The police said they dismantled a third organised syndicate linked to traffic-related frauds, with the arrest of Rinku Rana alias Bhushan, his associate Sonu Sharma and Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, who was also connected to another extortion syndicate.
According to the police, Rinku Rana was running a well-organised network that facilitated the movement of commercial goods vehicles during restricted hours by selling fake 'marka' or stickers for Rs 2,000 to Rs 5,000 per vehicle every month. The stickers were falsely projected as authorisation to evade traffic challans.
During raids, the police recovered Rs 31 lakh in cash, property documents worth several crores of rupees, over 500 fake stickers and six mobile phones allegedly used to operate the syndicate.
The crackdown followed a complaint filed by a traffic police officer in April this year after a commercial vehicle tried to evade checking by producing a fake sticker claiming exemption from enforcement action.
Investigation revealed that social media groups were being used to coordinate the illegal movement of vehicles and alert drivers about traffic police checkpoints, police said.
"A parallel system was being run to cheat drivers and vehicle owners while undermining traffic enforcement. On the basis of evidence, provisions related to organised crime under the BNS were invoked," a senior police officer said.
Sonu Sharma, the police said, managed social media groups through which stickers were sold and real-time alerts were circulated regarding traffic police movement. He also acted as a link between Rana and drivers operating in the field.
In a related development, Mukesh Kumar alias Pakodi, an associate of Rajkumar alias Raju Meena, who was earlier arrested under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA), was also apprehended.
Mukesh allegedly helped extort money from transporters and was involved in blackmailing traffic police personnel by recording enforcement actions, the police said.
Investigators alleged the syndicate led by Rajkumar deployed drivers to deliberately violate traffic rules and secretly record police officials during challans, later using manipulated videos to extort money under threat of false allegations.
The police said that in total, eight accused belonging to three different organised crime syndicates linked to traffic frauds and extortion have been arrested so far.
Further investigation is underway to trace the remaining members, conduct financial probes, and analyse digital evidence recovered during the raids, officials added.
