Vanniyar quota: Madras High Court verdict unacceptable, says Ramadoss

‘State must appeal in SC’

November 01, 2021 02:02 pm | Updated 02:02 pm IST - CHENNAI:

PMK founder S. Ramadoss on Monday said that the State Government should appeal against the Madras High Court’s verdict declaring the 10.5% internal reservations for Vanniyars within MBC quota as ‘unconstitutional’ in the Supreme Court.

He termed the verdict “unacceptable” contending that such questions were not raised by the Madras High Court or Supreme Court against internal reservations for Muslims or Arundhathiyars, provided in Tamil Nadu.

In a statement, he said Chief Minister M. K. Stalin, “who had understood the need for such a reservation despite the fact that the law was passed by the previous [AIADMK] government”, has the “duty and responsibility” to reinstate internal quota for Vanniyars within MBC by taking all legal and political steps.

“Lakhs of Vanniyars have been admitted to educational institutions and have taken up jobs through these reservations. Madras High Court has delivered a verdict without taking into account their future,” said Dr Ramadoss.

According to him, all reservations provided thus far have been based on caste census undertaken in 1931 and data compiled by Backward Class commissions based on 1931 caste census.

“It is based on this data, the 10.5% reservations for Vanniyars within MBC quota was also provided. The questions raised by Madras High Court are against social justice. It could pose a danger to reservations of other communities too. The State Government must prepare a strong response to the questions raised in the verdict,” he said.

The PMK leader said similar questions were raised against the 69% reservations in Tamil Nadu by those against social justice but the Supreme Court in 2010 rejected them.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.