Will challenge HC order scrapping increased quotas in Bihar: Deputy CM

Patna: Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Choudhary on Thursday vowed to challenge the Patna High Court order setting aside a hike in reservation for deprived castes from 50 per cent to 65 per cent.

Choudhary, who is also the state BJP president, asserted his party was “fully in support” of reservations and the state government will move the Supreme Court “after due consultations with legal experts”.

“It was with the BJP's full support that the Nitish Kumar government ordered the caste survey and raised quotas for Dalits, tribals and backward classes,” said Choudhary, who became deputy CM in January this year after the return of Kumar to the NDA.

“We believe that the reservation laws in Bihar were amended in accordance with provisions of the Constitution... states like Tamil Nadu, too, have 69 per cent quotas,” he said.

Socially and educationally backward communities get reservation benefits, and it is their constitutional right, Choudhary asserted.

“The Bihar government will challenge the high court order before the Supreme Court after seeking legal opinion,” he added.