SC to hear centre's application on OBC on Apr 23

New Delhi, Apr 18: The Supreme Court will hear on April 23 the Centre's application seeking clarification of its order dated March 29 staying the operation of the government notification providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in centrally run higher education institutions.

The government suffered a major setback when the Supreme Court said it was a prima facie review petition and the court will hear the arguments whether the application for clarification is in substance a review petition.

When senior counsel Harish Salve pointed out that the Centre's application says the order of stay was in fact an advice of the court and not a direction, Justice Arijit Pasayat responded by saying '' we do not give advice. I have stopped giving advice since March 21, 1989.'' Earlier, Solicitor General G E Vahanvati told the bench comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and Lokeshwar Singh Panta that the Centre wants to assure this court that there would be no reduction in seats for general category candidates and that OBC candidates shall be admitted only against increased seats. He also assured the court that seats in all educational institutions will be increased only to a limited extent.

The Centre was going to implement the notification from the academic session 2007-08. The apex court, however, stayed the operation of the notification on the grounds that no authentic data regarding the percentage of OBCs in the country has been placed by the government before this court and the 1931 census which was the basis of the Mandal Commission report cannot be considered authentic.

The anti-reservationists are seeking review of the Mandal Commission report, which estimated the percentage of OBCs in country as 52 percent and are pleading that economic backwardness and not the caste should be the basis of reservation.

UNI

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