By IANS
New Delhi : The quota limit for state government jobs should remain at 50 percent, the Supreme Court reiterated Friday, dismissing a plea by the Orissa government seeking to hike reservation in the state to nearly 66 percent.
A bench of Justices A.K. Mathur and Dalveer Bhandari dismissed the Orissa government's petition, without caring to even hear the arguments of the state government counsel.
The state had approached the apex court against an April 2007 ruling of the Orissa High Court which had struck down its notification enhancing the ceiling on reservation in government jobs from 50 percent to 65.75 percent.
After hiking the reservation limit in December 1994, the Orissa Public Service Commission initiated in 1996 recruitment for over 400 state jobs in government departments. The result for the examination was published in 1998.
The result – with the 65.75 percent quota – was, however, challenged by some candidates before the Orissa Administrative Tribunal.
The tribunal struck down the notification on the basis of the 1993 judgement of the apex court on implementation of the Mandal Commission report, which ruled that the reservation limit could not exceed 50 percent.
The Orissa High Court later upheld the tribunal's ruling. The Orissa government had approached the apex court, challenging the judgement.
Following the apex court ruling in the Indira Sawhney case on implementation of the Mandal Commission report for 27 percent reservation to Other Backward Classes candidates in government jobs, all the states except Tamil Nadu had largely adhered to the 50 percent reservation limit.
Tamil Nadu provides 69 percent reservation in state government jobs by including its reservation law in the Ninth Schedule, making it immune to scrutiny by the apex court.
However, following a recent apex court ruling which held that the laws under the Ninth Schedule were open to review by it, a different bench of the court is examining the legality of Tamil Nadu's law on quotas.