By IANS
New Delhi : Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav’s Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) moved the Supreme Court Thursday, supporting the Union government’s stand for revision of the apex court’s stay on reservation for students from Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in higher educational institutions.
The apex court on March 29 had stayed the operation of a law which provides for 27 percent reservation for OBC students in centrally-funded institutions of higher learning.
In an intervention application filed through its counsel B.B. Singh, the RJD’s secretary and Member of Parliament Ram Deo Bhandari, said the law was constitutionally valid.
Quoting the Constitution (93rd amendment) Act, which amended its Article 15 (5) on Jan 20, 2006, the RJD argued that the government was fully empowered to make any special provision for the advancement of the socially and educationally backward citizens, including scheduled castes and scheduled tribes and the OBCs.
The RJD submitted that the constitutional validity of the government’s reservation policy was also upheld by the nine-judge constitution bench in the Indra Sawhney’s case, which endorsed the recommendation by the Mandal Commission.
As the apex court takes up the scrutiny of the suspended quota law for its constitutionality from May 8, senior counsel Ram Jethmalani is expected to argue for RJD.