Supreme Court strikes down 10.5% reservation for Vanniyars in Tamil Nadu

Thursday, 31 March 2022newsdesk

The Supreme Court Thursday upheld the Madras High Court judgement striking down the law brought in Tamil Nadu last year providing 10.5 per cent reservation to Vanniyars, within the Most Backward Classes (MBC) community, in government jobs and admissions to educational institutions.

New Delhi, 31 March 2022

As per news report of The Indian Express, The top court said it was done solely on the basis of numbers without adequate data to show the relative backwardness of the Vanniyar community. Upholding the HC judgement, a bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said it is of the opinion that the law did not provide any substantial basis to treat Vanniyar as a separate group compared to others among MBCs. Thus, the 2021 Act is ultra vires the Constitution, it said. The court also ruled that though there is no fetter placed on the power of the state to legislate, and caste can be the basis of such internal reservation, it cannot be the sole basis.

Source - The Indian Express