New Delhi, August 7
The formula devised by the Centre to implement 27 per cent OBC quota in education institutions today came under severe attack from a battery of lawyers representing anti-reservation students even as senior advocate K.K.Venugopal questioned the government stand that the principle of “creamy layer” will not apply to admissions.
As per the formula devised by the government, Solicitor-General G.E.Vahanvati gave an illustration that if in an institution there are 100 seats, to accommodate 27 per cent OBC students, the number will be raised to 154 not 127. By raising them to 154, the principle of 50 per cent cap on reservation would not be disturbed, he said.
He explained that there is a total reservation of 23 per cent for SCs and STs out of 100 seats, leaving 77 for the general category, to ensure not to disturb the seats for the general category, the reserved seats will be increased by 54, which would mean 42 for OBC (27 per cent of 154) and 35 to SCs and STs (23 per cent of 154) making its tally as 77 equal to the general category seats. This way the 50 per cent cap would be maintained.
But Venugopal and Harish Salve, appearing for anti-reservationists, questioned the veracity of this formula, stating that in this manner the government was in fact increasing the reserved quota by double than the 27 per cent provision made in the OBC Reservation Act, which was not contemplated.
Venugopal further said that the validity of entire Reservation Act was under cloud on the question of the government’s stand that the “creamy layer” which was applicable in the government jobs would not apply to reservation in admission to education institution.
By this stand the government was virtually admitting that the law was made for “protecting the interests of advanced sections among OBCs” which was not the essence of the affirmative action provided under the Constitution, he said.
“If the government was allowed to go ahead with the implementation of the Act sans creamy layer, only the well-off among OBCs will grab the entire cake and nothing will be left to the deprived and real backward,” he emphasised.
“Is this the mandate of the Constitution on reservation… what is puzzling men is that the Centre wants the 27 per cent reservation be implemented irrespective of the fact that the advanced sections among the OBCs are out to grab the entire benefit,” he argued.
Though the Solicitor-General candidly stated that he has no instruction from the government to “concede” anything on the Act as is passed by Parliament, he stated that if a “workable” solution could be found by the court on the question of “creamy layer”, a forward movement could be made. By this statement, he apparently left the entire thing to the court on the contentious question of “creamy layer”.
This was strongly objected to by Salve, Venugopal, Rajiv Dhawan and other lawyers for anti-reservationists, questioning the government’s intention. They said the government wanted to use this issue for “political gains”, but was not ready to take a flexible stand and even not presenting any figure and data regarding the OBC population. It wanted the court to put its stamp on the Act.
“They want to have the cake and eat it too,” Venugopal said, adding that if the government was allowed to rush through the OBC reservation without any data, “it will cause havoc to the higher education system and eventually destroy the quality education”.
