MK Stalin's Party Seeks Review After Supreme Court Upholds Quota For Poor
NDTV
The DMK said the Supreme Court judgment upholding the EWS quota directly overrules the landmark 1992 order known as the Mandal verdict'.
Tamil Nadu's ruling DMK on Monday sought a review of the November 7 verdict of the Supreme Court which upheld 10 per cent reservation for the economically weaker sections (EWS) in educational institutions and government jobs that excluded the poor among the SC/ST/OBC categories, contending it "legitimises discrimination".
It said there is an apparent error in the judgment as it directly overrules the landmark 1992 nine-judge Constitution bench verdict in the Indra Swahney versus Union of India case, popularly referred to as the ‘Mandal verdict'.
The DMK said all five judges on the Constitution bench which pronounced its verdict on November 7 upholding the EWS quota introduced in 2019, have answered that the 103rd Constitution Amendment cannot be said to breach the basic structure of the Constitution and therefore it overruled the 1992 judgment, which authoritatively pronounced that reservation cannot be granted on the basis of economic criteria.
The review plea said, "It is respectfully stated that this is error apparent on the face of the record since it directly overrules the judgment passed by the nine Judge Constitution Bench in Indra Sawhney versus Union of India 1992,…which has authoritatively pronounced that reservations cannot be on the basis of the economic criteria and such interpretation was on the basis of Articles 14,15(1) and 16(1), not articles 15(4) and 16(4) alone".
