Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi/Ahmedabad: Reacting to the Supreme Court’s refusal to stay an Andhra Pradesh High Court verdict quashing a 4.5 percent sub-quota for religious minorities, Law Minister Salman Khurshid said on Wednesday that the court verdict should not be construed as a defeat for the Centre.
Khurshid said that that Centre has sought to extend quota benefit to all religious minorities and it should not be taken as only for Muslims.
Advocating caution, Khurshid asked people not to jump to conclusions after SC rejected Centre’s plea.
He opined that the verdict should not be taken as defeat for the government and said the government will appeal against the verdict.
An apex court bench of Justice KS Radhakrishnan and Justice JS Khehar said the 4.5 precent sub-quota within the 27 percent reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs) was "not in conformity with Article 15 of the Constitution".
The court questioned the government whether it can provide a quota on the basis of religion.
The Centre had issued an Office Memorandum (OM) on Dec 22, 2011 providing the sub-quota for minorities in jobs and central educational institutions like the IITs. The apex court, however, said the OM had no constitutional and statutory support.
First Published: Wednesday, June 13, 2012, 16:23