Anshika Tiwari –
The Apex Court dismissed the review petition filed by Centre against its 5 judge bench judgment where it held that the 102nd Constitutional Amendment had done away with the states’ power to identify the Socially and Economically Backward Classes.
Dismissing the review petition, it held: “The grounds taken in the review petition do not fall within the limited ground on which review petition can be considered. The various grounds taken in the review petition have already been dealt with in the main judgment. We do not find any sufficient ground to entertain this review petition”.
The Supreme Court had passed its verdict on May 5 where a constitutional bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan unanimously ruled against the Maratha reservation. The basis of setting it aside was that post the 102nd amendment the states do not have any power to identify any new backward class.
The present review petition was filed by the Centre in which it contended that the 102nd amendment violated the federal structure and deprived the states of their power to identify groups as Socially or Educationally Backward.
The prayer before the Supreme Court was to seek a stay on the majority verdict.
By a 3:2 majority the court held that the amendment was constitutionally valid. It led to the setting up of a National Commission for Backward Classes, by virtue of which only the Centre had the exclusive power to identify and declare SEBC’S, it said. Only the Parliament was now constitutionally empowered to make inclusions and exclusions in the list of SEBC of each state.