Andhra Pradesh HC cancels Centre’s 4.5 per cent sub-quota
Andhra Pradesh HC cancels Centre’s 4.5 per cent sub-quota
The Andhra Pradesh High Court today cancelled the 4.5 per cent sub-quota to minorities. In a setback to the Centre over the sub-quota issue, the court said the office memorandum (OM) creating the sub-quota was based on religious grounds and not on any other consideration.
The December 22, 2011 OM for a sub-quota of 4.5 per cent for socially and educationally backward classes of citizens belonging to minority communities out of the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs in central educational institutions and jobs was announced by the Centre ahead of the Assembly elections in five states including Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.
Setting aside the OM, a division bench consisting Chief Justice Madan B Lokur and Justice Sanjay Kumar said, “In fact, we must express our anguish at the rather casual manner in which the entire issue has been taken up by the central government.”
“No evidence has been shown to us by the learned assistant solicitor general to justify the classification of these religious minorities as a homogeneous group or as more backward classes deserving some special treatment.
According to K Ramakrishna Reddy, senior counsel who argued for the petitioner R Krishnaiah who is a backward caste leader from Andhra Pradesh, the judgement may affect the admissions that have already been made in central educational institutions such as IITs.
