Religion, Caste And Tribe Based Reservation - 4

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<b>SC stays OBC quota in Govt education institutes</b><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->New Delhi: In what could be a blow to the plans of the Central Government, the Supreme Court on Thursday stayed the 27 per cent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in elite educational institutions, including IIMs and IITs.

The verdict could be the cause for another legislation and judiciary clash as this is a big setback for the Government.

The Bench of Justices Arijit and Pasayat and L S Panta delivered the verdict on the batch of petitions filed by various organisations and individuals challenging the decision as being ultra vires (unconstitutional).

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.

<b>It held that the 1931 census could not be a determinative factor for identifying the OBCs for the purpose of providing reservation.</b>

<b>Keeping the petitions in mind, the Bench stated that Section 6 of the Constitution was not applicable since no data on OBCs has been collected in the last 76 years</b>.
<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd--><!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Lawyer for United Student’s Forum, M L Lahoty told CNN-IBN, “SC has stayed the order on the Act saying to the Centre, ‘Don’t divide the country only because of your vote bank’ and that 'the consequences of this quota would be very bad'."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->