The Hindu : New Delhi News : Decks cleared for OBC admissions

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Saturday, May 17, 2008
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New Delhi

Decks cleared for OBC admissions

J. Venkatesan

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday cleared the decks for admissions to the Indian Institutes of Management under the 27 per cent OBC quota law for 2008-2009 by vacating an interim order passed by the Calcutta High Court staying its implementation in IIM-C.

A Bench consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices H.K. Sema and P.P. Naolekar stayed the operation of the High Court order on the Centre’s petition.

The petition seeks transfer of cases pending in the Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta High Courts challenging the amended office memorandum, dated April 20, to provide for quotas to the Other Backward Classes.

The Bench issued notice to the respondents on the transfer petition and posted the matter to July. It stayed all further proceedings pending in the three High Courts.

The Bench, however, said admissions to the IIMs under the 27 per cent OBC quota law would be subject to the result of the transfer petition. It wanted the Centre to properly advertise this order.

Earlier, Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati, appearing for the Centre, told the Bench: “This is an amazing state of affairs. An Act has been upheld by this court. Yet petitions are filed in various High Courts and the Calcutta High Court passed an ex parte stay order staying the admissions. This will amount to a review of the Supreme Court judgment. This order should be vacated. The same point which has been argued in this court is being argued in all the High Courts and petitions are entertained and stay is granted.”

Responding, the Chief Justice said: “It is strange that such an order has been passed by the Calcutta High Court. Once the Act has been upheld by us where is the question of stay? We don’t think the [Calcutta] High Court can sit over the judgment of this court.”

When counsel for respondents — K.K. Venugopal, Harish Salve, P.P. Rao and Rajeev Dhavan — opposed the stay on the Calcutta High Court order, the Chief Justice said: “Your argument is very strange. If you feel our judgment is being violated, you file a contempt [against the Centre]. We can’t allow the stay order to operate.”

Mr. Venugopal said three of the five judges on the Constitution Bench had said graduation was the benchmark for identification of the creamy layer.

In view of this, graduates would have to be kept out of the quota law.

The Chief Justice told counsel: “What we have said [in the April 10 judgment] is if a large number of people in a community are graduates, then that community cannot be included in the list of OBC castes as they are not educationally backward. The Backward Classes Commission should identify such communities for excluding them. This will operate as a class and not operate for individuals for excluding them under the creamy layer.”

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