SC stays OBC quota in admissions

New Delhi, Mar 29 (UNI) The Supreme Court today stayed till further orders the operation of the notification issued in January this year under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006 providing 27.5% reservations to the OBCs in admission to the centrally-run educational institutions from the academic year 2007-2008.

A bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta, however, made it clear they were not staying the reservations for the SC/STs.

Reiterating the law laid down in Mandal Commission case for exclusion of creamy layer from the benefits of reservation, the court noted, ''It, therefore needs no reiteration that the creamy layer rule is necessary bargain between the competing ends of caste based reservations and the principle of secularism.. It is a part of the Constitutional scheme. Therefore these cases have to be examined in detail as to whether the stand of the Union of India that creamy layer rule is applicable to only Article 16(4) and not Article 15(5) is based on any sound foundation. That is more so because the lists relatable to Article 16(4) form the foundational base of Article 15(5).'' Adjourning the hearing of the case till the third week of August, the court ruled, ''In the background of what has been explained above, it would be desirable to keep in hold the operation of the Act so far it relates to section 6 thereof for the OBCs category only. We make it clear that we are not staying operation of the statute, particularly section 6 so far as the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes candidates are concerned. It would be permissible for the respondent-Union of India to initiate or continue process, if any for determining on a broadbased foundation'' Other Backward Classes ''notwithstanding pendency of the cases before this court and without prejudice to the issues involved.'' More UNI