In a major setback to the UPA government pressing for reservation to Muslims, the Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected its interim plea to allow the IITs to have admission of minority students as a separate block under 4.5 per cent sub-quota, saying such segregation based on “religion” does not have any Constitutional support.
“The problem with the December 22, 2011 office memorandum (which carved out the separate reservation for minorities from the 27 per cent OBC block) is that it says that the 4.5 per cent sub-quota is for socially and educationally-backward classes belonging to religious minority,” a bench of Justices K.S. Radhakrishnan and J.S. Khehar said pointing out to additional solicitor-general Gaurab Banerji that under the Constitutional scheme there is no provision for reservation based on religion.
As Mr Banerji clarified that the 4.5 per cent sub-quota was not meant for Muslims alone though they “essentially” were the main beneficiaries but included a section of backward Sikhs and Christians, the SC made it plain that any segregation using the word “religious minority” in the OM “does not have the Constitutional support”.
The top court pointed out that the 27 per cent reservation for OBCs was made possible by amending the Constitution but a further segregation of 4.5 per cent quota out of it based on “religion” was done by he government by a simple executive order, which was not permissible under the Constitution.
“The 27 per cent has the Constitutional support but 4.5 per cent does not. Within 27 per cent, the basis for classification is religion. You (government) are wrong when you say the classification is two-pronged,” the bench told the government law officer. The clarification came from the SC in response to Mr Banerji’s assertion that in OBC list of 2,343 communities, some 80 to 100 already belonged to religious minorities but were not getting the benefit of reservation, hence the government had carved out a separate quota of 4.5 per cent for them out of the OBC block with twin criterion, they must be from religious minorities and must be socially and educationally-backward.