SC notice to Centre on petition against OBC quota

New Delhi, May 7: Supreme Court today issued a notice to the Centre on a petition filed by Pan-IIM Alumni Association challenging the government notification providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in admmission to centrally-funded higher educational institutions.

A Bench comprising Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and Justice R V Raveendran issued the notice after hearing the counsel for the petitioner, who pleaded that the caste-based quota policy was even disapproved by first Prime Minister of India Jawahar Lal Nehru and the impugned policy of the government will lead to a division of the country on caste lines.

The petitioner Association also contended that exclusion of the creamy layer is a must for making available the benefit of the reservations to real backward sections of society and that such a reservation policy will also adversely affect the efficiency of the administration and the sole aim of the policy was to create a votebank for political parties.

A Bench headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat has already stayed the operation of the impugned notification issued in January this year for a year, virtually ruling out the implementation of the quota for OBCs from the current academic session, that is 2007-2008.

The apex court will start hearing a batch of petitions challenging the reservation policy of the government from tomorrow as the hearing of these petitions has been brought forward by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan on the request of the Centre, which is also seeking reference of the petitions to a five-judge constitution bench in view of the important questions of law having been raised in the petitions.

The apex court has, however, not touched the reservations for SC/STs in admissions.

All anti-reservation bodies have challenged the quota based on caste lines while advocating for the quota policy based on economic backwardness.

The Tamil Nadu government and the Lalu Prasad-led RJD have, however, filed intervention applications in support of the reservation policy of the UPA government at the Centre as both DMK and RJD are allies of the Congress at the Centre.

The apex court has refused to accept the 1931 caste-based census as authentic for framing the reservation policy and the same census was the basis of the Mandal Commission Report which said OBCs constituted 52 per cent of the total population of the country and has directed the Centre to place record of more authentic data of the country's population.

The petitioners are, however, seeking a review of the Mandal Commission report.

UNI

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