SC Strikes Down 10.5pc Quota For Vanniyars In TN
New Delhi, March 31: The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down 10.5 per cent internal reservation to the Vanniyar community under existing 20 per cent reservation to Most Backward Classes by the Tamil Nadu State Government.
Upholding the Madras High Court judgment, a Supreme Court bench headed by Justice L. Nageswara Rao passing the judgement said there was no basis to treat Vanniyar as a separate group. The apex court after hearing various parties, including the Tamil Nadu government, petitioners, and others, said, Tamil Nadu’s 10.5 per cent reservation for Vanniyars was unconstitutional.
The court said the Tamil Nadu government has failed to prove with data that Vanniyar’s required to be treated as a separate group. “There is no basis for providing 10.5 pc reservation to Vanniyar community”, the Supreme Court today, said, in its verdict.
The Apex Court was hearing a batch of petitions challenging a Madras High Court’s decision declaring as ultra vires a State quota law which provided the special reservation to Vanniyars, a most backward community.