The Nitish Kumar government in Bihar has approved implementation of 50% reservation in judicial services. The quota will be applicable for posts of judicial magistrates and munsif magistrates and that of additional district and sessions judges, reported PTI. Both services will have 35% posts reserved for women and 1% for differently abled citizens.

General Administration Department Principal Secretary Dharmendra Singh Gangwar said, “In the light of the judgment delivered by the Supreme Court on September 29 in the State of Bihar vs Dayanand Singh, the cabinet today gave its nod for the implementation of a 50% quota for direct appointment in both subordinate judicial services and superior judicial services.” Gangwar said the decision was made after consulting the Patna High Court and Bihar Public Service Commission. The Bihar Public Service Commission appoints judicial magistrates and munsif magistrates, and additional district and sessions judges are chosen by the Patna High Court.

The state has 27% reservation for subordinate judicial services at present. Of the newly introduced 50% quota, 21% posts will be reserved for Extremely Backward Classes, 12% for Backward Classes, 16% for Scheduled Castes and 1% for Scheduled Tribes. While the quota for Extremely Backward Class was raised from the existing 10% after the Cabinet nod on Tuesday, the new reservation policy also introduced a category for Backward Classes.