SC upholds HC order striking down Tamil Nadu’s 10.5 pc Vanniyar quota in govt jobs and admissions

The Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu, in government jobs and admission to educational institutions. A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai upheld the Madras High Court order which had quashed the reservation.

“We are of the opinion that there is no substantial basis for classifying Vanniakula Kshatriyas into one group to be treated differently from the remaining 115 communities within the MBC groups and, therefore, the 2021 Act is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. Therefore, we uphold the decision of the high court,” the bench said.

The top court had earlier refused to refer the issue to a larger bench and said it has perused the judgements submitted and was of the view that the issue does not need consideration by a larger bench.

The top court was hearing a batch of petitions filed by the state of Tamil Nadu, Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), and others challenging the November 1, 2021 judgement of the high court quashing the reservation provided to Vanniyars, saying it was unconstitutional.

The Tamil Nadu Assembly had in February passed the then ruling AIADMK-piloted bill providing internal reservation of 10.5 per cent for Vanniyars, with the incumbent DMK government issuing an order in July 2021 for its implementation. It had split the aggregate 20 per cent reservation for MBCs and denotified communities into three separate categories by regrouping castes and provided a 10 per cent plus sub-quota for Vanniyars, formerly known as Vanniakula Kshatriyas.

The petitioners contended that if such a reservation was implemented, then the Vanniyar community would enjoy reservation in jobs and admission while 25 other castes under MBC and 68 others would have to share the remaining quota.

The government said there was no political motive behind the enactment of the legislation. It denied the legislation was passed hastily before the notification of the Assembly elections this year, held on April 6, in violation of legislative assembly rules.