SC TOLD Caste-based reservation will damage social fabric

New Delhi, Aug 16 (UNI) Senior Counsel Harish Salve today told the the Supreme Court that caste-based reservation will not only damage the social fabric of the country but will also deny the benefit to the backward sections of other religious communities.

Mr Salve was continuing his arguments against the government notification providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in centrally run educational institutions of higher studies like IITs, IIMs and post graduate medical science courses.

He also told the constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that such reservations cannot be continued indefinitely and there should be an end to the quota system.

Other judges on the bench were Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker, R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari.

Mr Salve also contended that the word 'caste' had been consciously not used in Article 15 (IV) of the Constitution, which mentioned 'class' only.

The two-judge bench, headed by Justice Pasayat, of the apex court had stayed the inpugned notifications for one-year on March 29, this year.

The court directed the government to come out with more authentic caste-based data to identify the policy beneficiaries.

Justice Pasayat reprimanded the government for relying on 1931 census by observing, ''you play the game first, frame the rules later.'' The central government is however backing the caste-based reservation policy on the grounds that the OBCs were exploited and oppressed for centuries and became socially, educationally and economically backward. Thus, an affirmative positive action was required to promote social justice.

According to Senior Counsel Ramjeth Malani, quota reservation policy was a compensation for the historical wrong done for centuries together.

Mr Salve, however, pleaded for ''economic criteria'' to be the basis of the reservation policy which should be monitored periodically and the creamy layer must be excluded from the reservation benefits so that the backward sections among OBCs could realy attain the benefit.

The arguments will continue on August 21.

UNI