Need SC approval for 10% EWS quota, Madras HC rules

CHENNAI: The concept of reservation as envisioned by the Constitution was turned on its head by repeated extensions, the Madras high court said on Tuesday as it ruled that quotas for the economically backward classes in medical colleges needed approval from the Supreme Court.

A bench of chief justice Sanjib Banerjee and justice PD Audikesavalu approved a July notification by the Centre to provide 27% reservation to Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates in medical colleges under the all-india quota (AIQ), and closed a contempt petition by Tamil Nadu’s ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) on the matter.

But it raised a question on implementation of 10% EWS quota as it breached the 50% cap set by the Supreme Court in a landmark 1992 judgment.

The HC observed that the concept of reservation, as envisioned by those framing the Constitution, had been “turned on its head” by repeated amendments and “the veritable reinvigoration of the caste system”.

“Rather than the caste system being wiped away, the present trend seems to perpetuate it by endlessly extending a measure that was to remain only for a short duration to cover the infancy and, possibly, the adolescence of the Republic. Though the life of a nation state may not be relatable to the human process of aging, but at over-70, it ought, probably, to be more mature,” the bench added.

The DMK’S contempt petition contended that central government officials should be punished for not implementing an order of the high court issued in July 2020 in favour of OBC reservations in medical seats.

“The notification of July 29, 2021 issued by the Union as a consequence of the order dated July 27, 2020, appears to be in order insofar as it provides for reservation for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBC categories...” the bench said.

”The additional reservation provided for economically weaker sections in the notification of July 29, 2021 cannot be permitted, except with the approval of the Supreme Court in such regard,” the bench added.

The bench’s objections appeared to stem from the fact that with the 10% quota for EWS, the total quantum of reservation breaches the 50% cap set by the Supreme Court. In a verdict in May this year, the top court refused to relook at the 50% cap.

Challenges to the EWS reservation -- instituted in 2019 ahead of the general elections -- are pending before the apex court.

In a response in Parliament in July, the government had said that the May verdict of the Supreme Court won’t affect EWS quotas.