Supreme Court questions quota to children of advanced families

Observing that with educational and economic empowerment there is social mobility, the Supreme Court on Friday questioned the continued grant of reservation benefits to children of economically and educationally advanced families within backward classes.

A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuyan was hearing a plea challenging a Karnataka High Court judgment which upheld the exclusion of the petitioner, whose parents are both state government employees, from reservation.

“If both parents are IAS officers, why should they have reservations? With educational and economic empowerment, there is social mobility.

The apex court said several orders passed by the government already provide for the exclusion of such affluent sections from reservation benefits, but they are being challenged now.(updated on 22nd may 2026)