Rajasthan Assembly passed he Rajasthan Special Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under State) Bill, 2015 on 22nd September 2015. The Bill provides for five percent reservation of seats in educational institutions in the State and of appointments and posts in the services under the State in favour of the Special Backward Classes, beyond the existing provisions of reservation, for ensuring their advancement and upliftment.
The Special Backward Classes include Banjara, Gadiya Lohar, Gujar, Raika, and Gadariya classes/castes. Persons belonging to creamy layer are excluded from taking the benefit of the reservation. The provision of reservation will exceed the permissible legal limit of 50% reservation in Rajasthan as the reservation under SC, ST and OBC will remain unchanged. However the statement of object and reasons of the Bill provides that as per paragraph 810 of Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, (2000) 1 SCC 168 (where the Supreme Court provided for the upper limit of reservation to be 50 %), if a special case is made out, reservation can be given in excess of 50%. And the Rajasthan State Backward Classes Commission, constituted by the State Government in pursuance of Rajhasthan High Court’s direction in Captain Gurvinder Singh v. State of Rajasthan, 2010 SCC OnLine Raj 4531, stated after analyzing the quantifiable data placed before it that the afore-mentioned classes fulfil all the legal norms suggested in Indra Sawhney case to make out a special case for special status as Special Backward Classes even though the overall reservation exceeds 50%.
On the same day the Rajasthan Assembly also passed the Rajasthan Economically Backward Classes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions in the State and of Appointments and Posts in Services under the State) Bill, 2015. The State Assembly also passed resolutions requesting the State Government to make efforts to get both the Bills included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution.
