A five-member bench of the Supreme Court unanimously allows 27% reservations in centrally-aided educational institutions for other backward classes (OBCs)

India’s Supreme Court, on April 10, 2008, upheld the Constitution amendment law providing for 27% quota for other backward classes (OBCs) in the Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs) and other central educational institutions, but excluded the ‘creamy layer’ from the benefit.

A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan and including Justices Arijit Pasayat, C K Thakker, R V Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari, cleared the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act, 2006, providing for the quota, by unanimous verdict. The court held that the Act did not violate the basic structure of the Constitution.

The verdict came on a bunch of petitions challenging the above Act. Anti-quota petitioners opposed the Act, saying caste could not be the starting point for identifying OBCs, as this runs contrary to the constitutional objective of achieving an egalitarian society. Also, the Act does not identify who OBCs are. They asked for a proper identification of OBCs based on verifiable data, before reservations could be applied.

They also questioned the inclusion of the ‘creamy layer’, or better off sections of OBCs in the reservation policy, which the court has upheld. The court has also stipulated that the cut-off marks for OBC candidates seeking admission should not be much lower than those stipulated for general category students. “The central government shall examine as to the desirability of fixing cut-off marks in respect of candidates belonging to OBCs,” the judgment said.

The judgment ensures that 49.5% of seats in central educational institutions are now reserved, including 15% for scheduled castes (SCs) and 7.5% for scheduled tribes (STs).

Main points of the judgment:

The court held that:

• The Constitution (93rd Amendment) Act, under which the government came out with the law providing 27% quota in centrally-aided institutions, was not violative of the basic structure of the Constitution.
• There would be periodic revision of implementation of the 27% quota.
• Delegation of power to the Centre to determine OBCs was valid.
• The parameter applied for identifying the ‘creamy layer’ of OBCs for jobs, according to the office memorandum of September 8, 1993, would be applicable.
• Minority institutions would be excluded from the quota, under the Act.
• The quota does not apply to post-graduate courses.

Source: www.rediff.com, April 2008
            Hindustan Times, April 10, 2008