BREAKING: SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS 10% RESERVATIONS FOR ECONOMICALLY WEAKER SECTIONS (EWS) LIVE UPDATES

Correction : It was mistakenly tweeted in the above thread that 4 judges upheld EWS quota.

Correct position :3 judges out of the 5-judge bench upholds EWS Quota (J Dinesh Maheshwari, J Bela Trivedi & J JB Pardiwala). CJI UU Lalit & J Ravindra Bhat strike it down.

#BREAKING CJI UU Lalit concurs with the view of Justice S Ravindra Bhat.

So EWS Quota upheld by 3:2 (Justice Dinesh Maheshwari, Bela Trivedi and JB Pardiwala in majority. CJI UU Lalit and Justice S Ravindra Bhat in minority)

CJI: I have concurred with the view taken by Justice Bhat in its entirety

Bhat J: It is declared that Sec 2 and 3 of the Constitution 103rd Amendment Act are unconstitutional and void on the ground that they're violative of basic structure

Justice Bhat : Articles 15(6) and 16(6) are struck down for being discriminatory and violative of equality code resulting in violation of basic structure.

Justice Bhat : The exclusion is based on social origin which destroys the equality code. Therefore on Question 3 it is clear that the classification of impugned amendment is arbitrary.

Justice Bhat : Introducing reservation on economic criteria is permissible. But exclusion of backward classes among SC/ST/OBC on the ground that they have enjoyed benefits is arbitrary.

Justice Bhat : Summary of findings -

1. Reservation on economic criteria is per se not violative.

2. Excluding backward classes from SC/ST/OBC from EWS is violative of basic structure.

Bhat J quotes Vivekananda : "If anyone dreams of exclusive survival of own religion and destruction of others, I pity him".

Bhat J: I want to highlight the words of two social workers- Swami Vivekananda's message in Chicago in 1893 on universal brotherhood to all.