Madras HC invalidates 10.5% reservation for Vanniars, declares it unconstitutional

Chennai: The Madras High Court bench in Madurai on Monday (November 1) struck down the law providing 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniars as unconstitutional and also asked whether reservation could be given on caste basis.

The legislation for 10.5 per cent reservation for Vanniars was passed by the earlier AIADMK government and was implemented by the present DMK government.

The 10.5 per cent reservation for the Vanniars was made within the 20 per cent reservation for most backward classes (MBC). However, several cases were filed against the 10.5 per cent reservation of Vanniars.

According to the petitioners, the 10.5 per cent reservation of Vanniar`s out of 20 per cent for MBC will impact the prospects of several communities under MBC and Denotified Communities (DNC).

Striking down the 10.5 per cent reservation order the court asked whether such reservation can be made without proper caste wise population data.

Terming the court order as shocking, Vanniar caste party PMK`s founder S. Ramadoss said the reservation was secured after a lot of struggles.

He said the High Court or the Supreme Court didn`t strike down for internal reservation for Muslims and Arunthathiyars and striking down it for Vanniars is unacceptable.

Ramadoss said an appeal against the court order should be made immediately as there are several students who got admission and several others jobs based on the reservation.