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OBC quota in education : Crucial hearing today

	April 23, 2007

The Supreme Court is hearing today, April 23, the maintainability of the Centre’s application for vacating the interim stay on implementation of 27 per cent reservation for the Other Backward Classes in institutions of higher education.



A Bench, comprising Justices Arijit Pasayat and L.S. Panta, posted the matter for deciding on its maintainability, after hearing Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati and Additional Solicitor-General Gopal Subramaniam, who pleaded for early listing of the application.



When Vahanvati was about to make his submission, the Bench told him, “We have gone through the application. In essence, it is for a review. You satisfy us that it is not an application seeking review of the order.”



Vahanvati said, “I have instructions to say this: there will be no reduction in the number of seats, which were available in the `general category’ in each Central Educational Institution (CEI) during the immediately preceding academic session (2006); the policy of reservation will be implemented simultaneously with and limited to the expansion in the capacity of CEIs; and students belonging to the OBCs (and a proportionate increase in seats for the SCs/STs) shall be admitted only against the increased seats, so that there is no adverse effect on the number of seats in the general category.”



The Bench said, “These points have already been argued by Subramaniam, and we have said `no’ to this suggestion.”



Senior counsel Harish Salve, appearing for one of the petitioners, “They [the Centre] are saying the interim order is only an advice. Let them first clarify whether it is an application for clarification.” The Bench said, “We don’t give any advice. We only pass orders.”





IIM admissions put off



In a related move, Indian Institutes of Management have put on hold all admissions till the issue of reservation for OBCs is decided. On Thursday night, the Human Resource Development Ministry had asked all central educational institutions to defer the admission process till the Supreme Court decides the matter. The Ministry will examine the issue today, depending upon what transpires at the Supreme Court hearing.



Though they announced last week that they would not be able to defer the release of the lists beyond April 21, the IIMs on Friday, April 20, decided to fall in line after receiving a strongly worded missive from the Ministry.



The IIMs earlier decided to go ahead with the admissions after April 21 “as per last year’s capacity” without implementing OBC reservation.



In view of the fresh communication from the Ministry, the IIM directors - who were to meet in the capital on Friday to take stock of the situation - cancelled the meeting at the eleventh hour.



In its latest directive to the IIMs, the Ministry reiterated that all Central educational institutions - aided, funded or established by the Central Government as defined in the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act, 2006 - are required to comply with its April 5 communication not to issue any admission offers for the 2007 academic year till further directions. “Any unilateral decision by any Central educational institution would be a violation of the [April 5] communication,” the Ministry pointed out.



Referring to the communication sent to the six IIMs, Human Resource Development Minister Arjun Singh told journalists, “Since the hearing is not complete, it will be fair to postpone the admissions and we will complete the process as early as possible.”





CPI(M) for National Commission



The CPI(M) has said that it is in favour of constitution of a national commission comprising members of the legislature, judiciary and executive to resolve the OBC quota issue. CPI(M) politburo member Sitaram Yuchury said in Allahabad on April 19 the court order on the issue has given rise to a situation where the legislature, which is entitled to frame laws, and the judiciary, which is supposed to scrutinise them, appear to be on a collision course.



Yuchury said the root cause of social inequality was not being given adequate importance. “The Kothari Commission had stated that unversalisation of education in India would be possible only if the government spends at least 6 per cent of the GDP on education. We have compelled the UPA Government to raise the expenditure to 3 per cent which is still much lower than recommended. The apex court should intervene to ensure education for all.”





BJP MP arrested for human trafficking



With the arrest of a BJP MP Babubhai Katara, who was trying to take to Canada a woman and a boy on the passports of his wife and son, a major human trafficking scandal involving Members of Parliament and other bigwigs has come to light. The BJP MP, who was arrested in New Delhi on April 18, has been remanded to police custody. The woman whom he was trying to take out of the country on tampered passport of his wife, claimed to have paid him Rs. 30 lakh to help her and her son migrate to Canada. Katara, who has been closely associated with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), reportedly admitted to the offence.



One of the persons arrested in connection with the alleged human trafficking said he had introduced travel agents to three other Members of Parliament.



Rajender Kumar Gampa, Sunder Lal Yadav and Rajender’s sister Kiran Dhar were apprehended on Saturday as they were leaving the capital.



A senior police officer said “Rajender and Sunder acted as middlemen between travel agents Santu and Joginder and Katara and introduced prospective clients willing to go abroad to him.”



The three were produced before a court in New Delhi which remanded Rajender and Sunder to five and three-days police custody respectively. Kiran was remanded to 10-day police custody.



Sunder told the court that he introduced a Hyderabad travel agent Rashid to Mohammed Tahir Khan, Bahujan Samaj Party MP from Sultanpur in U.P., and to Ramswaroop Koli, BJP MP from Bayana in Rajasthan. “I was introduced to Rashid by Telengana Rashtra Samiti chief’s secretary Murti. I do not remember the initials of the secretary.” He also introduced Mahesh Gupta, a travel agent, to Ram Awadh, a Member of Parliament.



Sunder said he did not know whether these legislators were involved in human trafficking, but for every introduction, he was paid a commission of Rs. 50,000 to Rs. 1 lakh.



With the names of three more MPs cropping up in the scam, the Congress demanded their expulsion from Parliament. The BSP termed the charge against party MP Mohammed Tahir Khan a conspiracy hatched by its political detractors in the midst of the U.P. Assembly polls.



Reports say that Babubhai Katara had taken a few persons to the UK and USA using a similar modus operandi earlier. He is the second parliamentarian in the net for human trafficking. Four years ago, the CBI had booked Ganga Ram Koli for helping nine persons migrate to the Netherlands illegally. He was not a member of parliament at the time, but had been one in 1998, having been elected from Bayana in Rajasthan. The investigation against Koli is still going on. The BJP has suspended Babubhai Katara from the party.