Court rejects plea asking to stay 10.5 per cent reservation for Vanniyars
Madras High Court on Tuesday refused to pass any interim direction staying the operation of the recent legislation that provided 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniakula Kshatriyas within the 20 per cent meant for Most Backward Classes.
The Court observed that it cannot get into politics.
Directing the State to file its counter on the issue within six weeks, the first bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice Senthilkumar Ramamoorthy said, “No overwhelming case is made out at this stage except pointing out that the speed in which the commission entrusted to take a study may have not completed the exercise and the Act has been given effect only with the ensuing elections in mind.”
The counsel appearing for the petitioner, P Vijayakumar, submitted that the Act providing 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniyars was brought in only for the purpose of obtaining votes of the relevant MBC population in the ensuing Assembly elections. He also sought the court to depreciate the political ploy adopted by the State government. The Act was passed by the State legislature on February 26 and received the Governor’s assent on the same day, moments before the notification for the Assembly notification was published, it was argued.