9TH
SCHEDULE - POLITY
News: Jharkhand wants new quota Bill placed in Ninth Schedule: What this section of Constitution is
What's
in the news?
● The Jharkhand Assembly cleared two Bills, one increasing reservation in vacant government posts and services in the state to 77 per cent, and the second to use land records with 1932 as the cut-off year to determine domicile status the definition of ‘Local Residents’.
9th
Schedule:
●
The Ninth Schedule contains a list of
central and state laws which cannot be
challenged in courts.
●
Currently, 284 such laws are shielded from
judicial review. Most of the laws protected under the Schedule concern
agriculture/land issues.
● A Tamil Nadu law that provides 69 per cent reservation in the state is part of the Schedule.
Origin:
●
The Schedule became a part of the
Constitution in 1951, when the
document was amended for the first time.
●
It was created by the new Article 31B, which along with 31A was brought
in by the Government to protect laws related to agrarian reform and for
abolishing the Zamindari system.
● While Article 31A extends protection to ‘classes’ of laws, Article 31B shields specific laws or enactments.
Objective:
● The objective behind adding the Ninth schedule was to protect certain acts and regulations from being declared void on the ground that they violate the fundamental rights provided under Part III of the Constitution.
Judicial
Review:
●
While the Ninth Schedule provides the law
with a “safe harbour” from judicial review, the protection is not blanket.
●
In I.R.
Coelho case (2007), the Supreme Court ruled that laws placed under Ninth
Schedule can be challenged on the ground of violating the basic structure of
the Constitution.
● Laws placed under Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973 shall be open to challenge in the court if they violated Fundamental Rights guaranteed under Article 14, 19 and 21.
Why
the law need to include in Ninth Schedule:
●
The 77 percent reservation breaches the 50
per cent ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the landmark 1992 Indra Sawhney vs
Union of India verdict.
● However, placing a legislation in the Ninth Schedule shields it from judicial scrutiny.
Previous
instances - Tamil Nadu’s case:
●
The Tamil Nadu Backward Classes, Scheduled
Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions
and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 1993,
reserves 69 percent of the seats in colleges and jobs in the State Government.