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Constitution Bench to hear Centre’s plea

Legal Correspondent

Application to vacate stay in OBC quota case

No prejudice to any section: Centre
With stay operating, OBC seats will go waste

New Delhi: A five-judge Constitution Bench will hear on August 7 the Union Government’s application seeking a direction to vacate the March 29 order restraining the Government from implementing the OBC quota law in Central higher education institutions for the academic year 2007-08.

Final hearing

It will first hear the application and then proceed with the final hearing challenging the validity of the quota legislation, a Bench comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices R.V. Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari told counsel for the parties.

“Not a review”

To a question from the Bench whether the application sought a review of the earlier order, Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati said, “It is not a review. Review will apply only to a final judgment and not to an interim order.”

Written submissions

K.K. Venugopal and Rajeev Dhavan, senior counsel for the petitioners who are challenging the constitutional validity of the law, said the question of maintainability of the application should also be taken up.

The Bench asked counsel for the parties to file their written submissions by August 3.

In his written submissions, senior counsel K. Parasaran, who is also appearing for the Centre, said: “The impugned Act provides for a mandatory increase of seats. It ensures that no prejudice is caused as the number of seats available excluding those reserved for the SCs/STs/OBCs is not less than the seats available in the immediately preceding academic session.

Increase of seats

“The increase of seats will only be consequential on the admission of candidates belonging to OBCs. If there are no admissions of OBCs to the extent of 27 per cent, the seats will not be increased.”

He said, “Open category students are not put to any prejudice as the number of seats available to them in the previous academic session is maintained.”

On the other hand, the seats by which OBCs would benefit by the increase within the permitted 50 per cent reservation would go waste, with no one getting the extra seats by the operation of the stay order.”

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