Delhi: CJI constitutes bench for quota petitions

New Delhi, Aug 5: Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has constituted a five-judge constitution bench for hearing the batch of petitions challenging the validity of government notification providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in admission to centrally-run educational institutions of advanced studies.

The bench will be headed by the Chief Justice himself. Other judges on the bench are Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker, R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari.

Justice Pasayat was the presiding judge of the two-judge bench of the Supreme Court which had stayed the operation of the impugned notification on March 29 this year.

The apex court will first of all hear on August 7 the application of the Central government, seeking vacation of the above stay.

Both Houses of Parliament had unanimously passed the Bill providing reservation for OBCs in educational institutions on the basis of caste.

The anti-reservationists are opposing the caste-based reservations on the ground that such quota will not only divide the Indian society along caste lines, but will also adversely affect the efficiency of the administration.

The Centre is, however, of the view that since the OBCs have been oppressed for centuries on the basis of their caste, they have become socially, educationally and economically backward, and hence, they deserve some concessions in the form of affirmative government action to bring them at par with the better placed sections of the society.

The Centre is seeking vacation of the interim stay on the grounds that general category students shall not be prejudiced as the government is increasing the seats to implement the policy of 27 % reservation for OBCs.

There is no problem so far as quota for SCs and STs is concerned.

The government is also contending that the policy of reservation for OBCs in educational institutions is in conformity with the government's policy of social justice.

The Mandal Commission Report , which is based on the data of 1931 caste-based census, held that the total population of OBCs is 52% of the total population of the country.

The apex court, however, did not accept the 75-year-old census as authentic and directed the Central government to place on record latest caste-based data of Indian population to prove that the OBCs are more than 27% of the total population of the country.

The policy of reservation was to be implemented from the academic sessin 2007-08.

The batch of petitions opposing reservation was referred to the constitution bench on the grounds that the petitions raised some important questions of law, involving a significant segment of Indian society.

UNI