Yadavs and Gujjar move SC for reservation

New Delhi, Apr 13 (UNI) The Central government today informed the Supreme Court that it is going to file an application for seeking vacation of interim stay granted against the implementation of the government notification providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in admissions to educational institutions of higher studies such as IIMs, IITs and post graduate medical science courses from the academic session 2007-2008.

Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium gave this information to the bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justices P K Balasubramanyan and R V Raveendran when Yadav Mahasabha and Gujjar Mahasabha mentioned their applications supporting the government decision to provide reservations to OBCs for urgent hearing.

Outside the court ASG told reporters that the application was most likely to be filed today but the government application was not filed today.

The bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat had stayed the operation of the government notification till further orders on the grounds that the government had framed the policy without having authentic data regarding the percentage of OBCs in total population of the country.

It seems that there is difference of opinion in the government departments. Some of the departments are in favour of agreeing to the exclusion of creamy layer among the OBCs from the benefits of reservation while other departments are not agreeable to the suggestion.

The two Mahasabhas of Yadavs and Gujjars have prayed to the court in their intervention applications that OBCs are educationally , socially and economically backward and hence the decision of the government to given them reservations was fully constitutional and stay granted against its enforcement should be vacated.

The apex court, however, told the two applicant organisations to wait till the government files an application for vacation of stay.

The government is most likely to file the much awaited application on April 16.

The apex court has already made it clear that it had not stayed the reservation given to the SCs/STs.

The Resident Doctors Welfare Associations and several other organisations such as Youth for Equality have filed petitions challenging the government notification issued in January this year on the grounds that the decision was based on 1931 census which is totally irrelevant and since 1931 no caste based census had taken place in the country. Mandal Commission report was based on 1931 census and the petitioners are also seeking review of the same.

The government failed to place before the court any authentic data showing the percentage of various castes in the population of the country despite several opportunities having been granted by the court to the government.

The applications filed by two Mahasabhas are likely to be heard together with the application of the Centre next week.

The government is supporting caste based reservation while petitioners are advocating reservation on the basis of economic backwardness.

UNI