The Hindu : National : "Review of stay can be sought"

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Saturday, Mar 31, 2007
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National

National

"Review of stay can be sought"

Special Correspondent

Law Ministry: Can move for hearing by larger Bench

NEW DELHI: Prior to Friday's United Progressive Alliance Core Committee meeting on the implications of the Supreme Court stay on OBC quota in central educational institutions, officials in the Prime Minister's Office obtained the view of the Law Ministry on the options before the Government.

According to the Law Ministry, the Government could seek a review of the interim order or move the Court for hearing the case by a larger Bench.

As for the Congress, its spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said affected students could move the Court for clarification of the stay order.

Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh met the Prime Minister on Thursday night and apprised him of the order of the apex court and its implications. He is understood to have returned with a firm assurance that there would be no going back on the new reservation regime.

Oversight Committee Chairman Veerappa Moily has submitted a written note to both the Prime Minister and Ms. Gandhi articulating his interpretation of the interim order. According to Mr. Moily, the court has not stayed the implementation of the policy but only observed that "it would be desirable to keep on hold the operation of the Act'' in the case of OBCs only.

While the Parliamentary Standing Committee on HRD met on Friday to discuss the Demand for Grants of the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry, the interim order did not come up for discussion.

Members were apparently of the view that the meeting was not the right forum for discussing the court order though half of the budgetary allocation proposed for the Department for 2007-08 is to fund capacity building in higher education to increase intake to accommodate OBC reservation.

Of the Rs. 6,483 crore allocation for the Department, Rs. 3,200 crore is for capacity building alone.

The Core Committee meeting was attended among others by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, his Cabinet colleagues, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and her political secretary Ahmed Patel.

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