Chennai: The Tamil Nadu government`s policy of providing three per cent reservation for Arunthathiyars, a backward community, out of the 18 per cent reservation for Scheduled Castes has been challenged in the Madras High Court.
The petition filed by MLA and Puthiya Tamizhagam chief K Krishnasamy sought to declare the Tamil Nadu Arunthathiyars (Special Reservation of seats in Educational Institutions including Private Educational Institutions and of appointments or posts in the services of the State within the Reservation for Scheduled Castes) Act as being violative of the Constitution.
When the matter came up for hearing today, the bench comprising Chief Justice M Y Eqbal and Justice T S Sivagnanam ordered issue of notice to the government.
The petitioner claimed the previous DMK government had prescribed the three per cent sub-quota for Arunthathiyar, ignoring the fact that the scheduled castes formed a homogeneous group for purpose of reservation and it was beyond the state government`s legislative competence to prescribe a special reservation for one group within the SC category.
He said it had created havoc among SC candidates and had caused gross arbitrariness especially in the reservation of posts in the state service.
Krishnasamy said the impugned Act had only divided the SCs in the Presidential list by regrouping them into another group. The Act was beyond the legislative competence of the state, he claimed.
PTI
