‘No clear data available to provide internal quota’

There was no quantifiable data available to justify 10.5% internal reservation for Vanniyakula Kshatriyas and the President alone was empowered to identify socially and educationally backward classes to include them in the list for claiming reservation benefits, senior counsel for petitioners who are opposing the reservation argued before the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court.

A batch of cases pertaining to internal reservation for Vanniyars was taken up by a Division Bench of Justices M. Duraiswamy and K. Murali Shankar on Monday.

During the course of the hearing, senior counsel K.M. Vijayan and G. Rajagopalan submitted that there was no quantifiable data available and the State had no legislative competence to effect the internal reservation. The law had to be struck down, they argued.

The court will continue to hear the arguments on Tuesday.

Earlier, a Division Bench of Justices M.M. Sundresh (since elevated as a judge of the Supreme Court) and S. Kannammal had passed an interim order on the cases stating that admissions made in educational institutions and appointments to public posts by implementing the reservation would be subject to the outcome of the cases.