Backward sections not a concern under quota policy: SC told

New Delhi, Aug 21 (UNI) Senior counsel Harish Salve today launched a frontal attack on the caste-based reservation policy of the government as he submitted before the Supreme Court that the quota policy amounted to branding some castes as backward permanently.

Salve, appearing for the petitioners opposing the provision of 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in admission to centrally-run educational institutions of higher studies, said the present quota policy of the government was not inspired by any genuine concern for the backward sections of the Indian society.

He contended before a five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that such a policy is based on the concept within 'once a backward always a backward' and cited extracts from the speeches of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhai Patel to buttress his arguments that caste-based reservation was not in national interest and can not be prolonged indefinitely by branding some caste and communities within ' backward forever'.

Mr Salve went on to contend that the consideration behind the caste based reservation was that ' we have to go back to them every 5 years to ask for votes.' He also questioned the logic of the caste-based quota policy by asking that a boy staying in a slum will not be given the benefit of the policy simply because he does not belong to a backward caste inspite of the fact that he is infact below poverty line and belongs to the section of society that is really backward socially, educationally and economically.

Other Judges on the bench are Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakkar, R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari.

Mr Salve also cited examples of other countries where reservations are provided on the basis of race but even in those countries the race-based reservations are not forever and must come to an end at some point of time.

The Central government is, however, backing the caste-based reservation policies on the ground that people belonging to backward caste have been subjected to continuous oppression for centuries together in the name of caste and hence the policy of the government is in conformity with its policy with social justice and in India caste is synonymous with class.

The arguments will continue tomorrow.

UNI