SC reserves judgement on appeals against HC order quashing 10.5 per cent Vanniyar quota

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court Wednesday reserved its judgement on a batch of appeals against a Madras High Court order which quashed the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.

A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai asked the parties to file written submissions. The top court had earlier refused to refer the issue to a larger bench and said it has perused the judgements submitted and was of the view that the issue does not need consideration by a larger bench. The top court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by the state of Tamil Nadu, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and others challenging the November 1, 2021 judgement of the high court quashing the reservation provided to Vanniyars, saying it was unconstitutional.

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The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in February passed the then ruling AIADMK-piloted bill providing internal reservation of 10.5 percent for Vanniyars, with the incumbent DMK government issuing an order in July 2021 for its implementation. It had split the aggregate 20 per cent reservation for MBCs and denotified communities into three separate categories by regrouping castes and provided a ten per cent plus sub-quota for Vanniyars, formerly known as Vanniakula Kshatriyas.

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"Is the state government empowered to do the internal reservation? The Constitution has given enough explanation. The legislation providing for internal reservation is cancelled," the high court had said. The high court had said the state government cannot come out with such legislation. This had been explained in the Constitution.

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