SC upholds OBC quota, keeps creamy layer out

SC JUDGEMENT IMPACT: Following the judgement, 49.5 per cent of the seats will be reserved.

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The new policy would take the overall reservation in the Government-funded higher education institutions from the current 22.5 (for SC and ST students) to 49.5 per cent.

In 2006, Human Resource Development Minister, Arjun Singh had asked state governments to frame laws under the 104th amendment of the Indian Constitution.

The amendment gives a right to all states to take adequate steps to ensure the upliftment of the socially and economically backward classes and essentially means that the under-privileged should get a chance to secure admission in private institutes.

For the colleges, this could mean a fall in the revenue but for the students who fall into the general category this could mean studying longer hours to be a part of the cream of the Indian student population.

The trend of reservations started with the appointment of the Mandal Commission in 1980, which had proposed that 27 per cent of university admissions be reserved for backward and disadvantaged castes.

Private institutes, including IIT and IIM already provide reservations for Scheduled Castes (15 per cent) and Scheduled Tribes (7.5 per cent), as mandated by the Constitution.

March 2007

The Court had in March ruled that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation.

Various organisations had challenged the Centre's decision to implement the quota, claiming that there was no relevant data on the number of OBCs in the country.

The apex court reprimanded the Centre, saying that the Centre should stay away from dividing the society on caste basis and should behave in a more responsible way.

April 2007

The Supreme Court on April 23, 2007 refused to vacate the stay on 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elite educational institutions like IIMs and IITs.

The Centre wanted a modification on the Supreme Court's March 29 order staying the reservation for OBCs, but the apex court refused the same making it clear by saying that the Centre is “first trying to play the game and then framing the rules”.

April 2007 - SC versus Centre

The Supreme Court said that the creamy layer does not deserve any reservation.

SC wanted to know from the Centre why there should be reservation in institutes of super speciality.

The SC said that the 27 per cent additional seats - created so that no inconvenience should be caused to the General Category - were created by the revenue generated by all the citizens of the country. Under Article 29, all the citizens have a right to this investment.

May 2007

The Supreme Court had in August, rejected the Centre's petition seeking vacation of its interim order staying the implementation of 27 per cent quota for OBCs in elite educational institutions.

A five-judge Constitution Bench had ruled that the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act 2006 cannot be implemented until the main petitions challenging the validity of the Act are decided upon.

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