3 weeks time to respond to reservation: SC to Centre

New Delhi, Jan 15: The Supreme Court today granted three weekstime to the Union government to respond to the petition challenging thegovernment order providing 27.5 per cent reservation for OBCs in theeducational institutions of the country.

Sr counsel Harish Salve appearing for the petitioner, told thebench comprising Justice Arijit Pasayat and Justice S H Kapadia thatthough the bill has been passed by both houses of Parliament, theofficial notification was awaited and whenever the notificationproviding for reservation is issued, it would be challenged.

The government has already announced that it is going to implementthe policy of reservation providing for 27.5 per cent reservation tothe OBCs regarding their admission in the eduational institutions fromthe academic year 2007-2008.

The Apex Court has already issued notices on petition challengingthe order issued by Union HRD Minister Arjun Singh and the governmentin its counter has justified caste based reservation.

The government is yet to place the Moily Committee report whichwas placed in Parliament, before this court as directed earlier.

After the Supreme Court judgement on Ninth Schedule, thegovernment is not in a position to avoid judicial scrutiny of thisorder which is being converted into the law of the land. The Nine JudgeBench of this court has already made it clear that even if the law isplaced in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, it can still beexamined by the court, if it violates the doctrine of basic structureof the Constitution that includes part three of the constitution alsowhich contains Fundamental Rights.

It may be recalled that health services throughout the countrywere totally paralysed following nation wide agitation launched by themedicos against the reservation policy describing it nothing but votebank policy being indulged in by the politicians cutting across partylines.

UNI

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