SC to pronounce verdict in OBC reservation case tomorrow

New Delhi, Apr 9 (UNI) The Supreme Court will deliver tomorrow its much awaited judgement on the issue of the validity of government notification providing 27 per cent reservation to OBCs in Centrally run educational institutions of higher learning.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan will pronounce its judgement which will decide whether the government shall be allowed to go ahead with its reservation policy.

The judgement was reserved last year after marathon arguments for and against the Union government notification issued in January 2007, providing reservation to OBCs in educational institutions.

The two-judge bench of the Supreme Court headed by Justice Arijit Pasayat had stayed the operation of the government notification for one year on March 29 last year.

The government notification had led to nationwide agitation by the anti-reservationists and health services were totally paralysed and the apex court had to intervene to restore health services in the country. A batch of petitions was filed challenging the caste based reservation policy on the grounds that it will divide the country along caste lines and the policy was based on 75-year-old caste based census and cannot be the basis of the current reservation policy.

UNI SC AM HS1952