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Major blow to Andhra govt: Court quashes 4% quota for Muslims

Caught in a bind, chief minister K Rosaiah has asked the advocate general to explore the possibility of filing a special leave petition in the SC to appeal against the HC order.

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The Andhra Pradesh high court on Monday quashed four per cent reservation for Muslims in educational institutions and jobs. A seven-member bench hearing the issue maintained that reservations cannot be provided on the basis of religion, dealing a major blow to the state government.

The bench headed by chief justice AR Dave also ruled that there was no constitutional provision for such a reservation.

However, it kept valid the admissions made into educational institutions sine 2007 on the basis of the quota.

Caught in a bind, chief minister K Rosaiah has asked the advocate general to explore the possibility of filing a special leave petition in the Supreme Court to appeal against the HC order. “There will be no going back on the Congress government’s resolve to provide reservation for the backward within the Muslim community,’’ said information minister J Geeta Reddy. “We will take all steps to overcome legal hurdles,’’ she added.

The government has been pursuing reservation for Muslims since 2004. It was part of former chief minister YSR Reddy’s election promise to the community and it topped his agenda till his death last year.

Earlier in 2004, the HC had quashed five per cent reservation to Muslims cleared by the government. In 2005, based on the socio-economic survey of its committee, headed by bureaucrat P Krishnan, the government issued an ordinance providing five per cent reservation. It was cleared by the state assembly later.
This was again challenged in court.

The court had set aside the legislation as the quantum of reservation was exceeding the 50% limit set by the Supreme Court.

The government then reduced it to four per cent to fit it within the acceptable limit through the Andhra Pradesh Reservation in Favour of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act 2007. The Act had also listed 15 socially and educationally backward classes among Muslims for the reservation.

Hearing the case over a year, the bench on Monday also found fault with the report of the Krishnan committee. The court expressed its displeasure over the way the committee failed to get a complete scientific basis to assess the socio-economic condition of the people belonging to this religion. In addition, the bench also felt that it prepared the report based on its visit to just six districts.

Soon after the judgment, leaders and workers of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has significant control over the Muslim-populated old city of Hyderabad, took to roads in protest. Some of the workers of the party tried to gatecrash into the state secretariat.

The government then reduced it to four per cent to fit it within the acceptable limit through the Andhra Pradesh Reservation in Favour of Socially and Educationally Backward Classes of Muslims Act 2007. The Act had also listed 15 socially and educationally backward classes among Muslims for the reservation.

Hearing the case over a year, the bench on Monday also found fault with the report of the Krishnan committee. The court expressed its displeasure over the way the committee failed to get a complete scientific basis to assess the socio-economic condition of the people belonging to this religion. In addition, the bench also felt that it prepared the report based on its visit to just six districts.

Soon after the judgment, leaders and workers of the Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen (MIM), which has significant control over the Muslim-populated old city of Hyderabad, took to roads in protest. Some of the workers of the party tried to gatecrash into the state secretariat.

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