Today, the Supreme Court issued a notice to both the Centre and the Bihar government regarding a petition challenging the Bihar High Court's decision to annul the recent increase in reservation to 65%. However, the Court has not yet imposed a stay on the High Court's order.

The petition was filed by the Rashtriya Janata Dal, the main opposition party in Bihar, contesting the High Court's ruling on the enhanced reservation, which was legislated following a caste survey conducted last year.

In response to the Supreme Court developments, the RJD affirmed its commitment to continuing the fight for reservation and the rights of marginalized communities.

"Supreme Court issues notice on RJD's petition against Patna HC order quashing Bihar Reservation Amendment Act. RJD will keep fighting for the reservation and rights of the deprived and the neglected on the streets, in the House and in the courts," the party wrote in Hindi in a post on X while also hitting out at Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and the BJP. 

The reservation quota in Bihar was raised from 50% to 65% for Backward Classes, Extremely Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes (SCs), and Scheduled Tribes (STs) through amendments to the reservation laws. These amendments were passed unanimously in both the Bihar Assembly and the legislative council and were intended to apply to educational institutions and government jobs in the state.

However, after petitioners challenged the constitutional validity of these amendments, the High Court ruled on June 20 that they were "ultra vires" the Constitution, "bad in law," and "violative of the equality clause."

The bench noted that it saw "no extenuating circumstance enabling the state to breach" the 50% cap on reservations established by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case of 1992.

The Bihar government had also appealed to the Supreme Court against the High Court's order, but a bench had declined to impose a stay in July.

On Friday, a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud, Justices JB Pardiwala, and Manoj Misra issued notices to both the Bihar government and the Centre. They also consolidated the RJD's petition with the state government's pending appeal.

The Bihar caste survey revealed that 36% of the state's population belongs to Extremely Backward Classes, 27.1% to Backward Classes, 19.7% to Scheduled Castes, and 1.7% to Scheduled Tribes. The general category, including so-called upper castes, constitutes 15.5% of the population.

To increase the reservation in the state to 65%, the Bihar government enacted the Bihar Reservation of Vacancies in Posts and Services (for Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribes, and Other Backward Classes) Amendment Act, 2023, and the Bihar (Admission in Educational Institutions) Reservation (Amendment) Act, 2023.

The caste census has become a significant national political issue, with the Congress party promising to conduct it if elected and advocating for the removal of the 50% reservation cap. This stance has been championed by Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and has garnered widespread support within the INDIA alliance.