By IANS
New Delhi : Counsel for the petitioners challenging the hikes in caste-based reservations in centrally-run higher educational institutions concluded their marathon arguments before the Supreme Court Thursday, and the government will begin its defence from Tuesday.
Since the arguments against the law raising the quota for students from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) have been completed, the government law officers including Solicitor General G.E. Vahanvati and Additional Solicitor General Gopal Subramanium will begin their arguments in support of the law.
The anti-quota petitioners’ counsel, including senior advocates Fali S. Nariman, Harish Salve, K.K. Venugopal, P.P. Rao and Rajiv Dhawan, took a total of 14 days’ seatings, spanning nearly one and half months to conclude their arguments.
Headed by Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and comprising of Justices Arijit Pasayat, C.K. Thakkar, R.V. Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari, the Supreme Court bench began Aug 7 hearing the arguments on the legality of the latest constitutional provisions and legislation – The Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission), Act, 2006 – to enhance caste-based reservations by 27 percent.
The crux of the arguments advanced by the anti-quota counsel is that the law would further divide society on the caste basis, besides undermining the efficiency of the administration.
They also contended that unless the ‘creamy layer’ or the affluent section among the backward classes was excluded from the purview of the reservation policy, its intended benefits would not percolate down to the most needy among the OBCs.
Counsel for petitioners against the quota law also contended that the constitution does not recognise caste, but the government invariably selects the proposed beneficiaries of its reservation policy on the basis of caste.
The petitioners said that reservation should be provided only on the basis of poverty and not on the basis of caste.
They argued that despite the constitution providing that the state would not differentiate between people on the basis of caste, creed and religion, the government invariably implements its reservation policy on the basis of caste and perpetuates casteism in the society.
The petitioners also challenged the quota policy saying that it violates the secular character of Indian society by not including minorities within the ambit of the quota policy.