SC/ST creamy layer exclusion from quota: Centre seeks review, says refer matter to 7-judge bench
New Delhi, Dec 2: The Centre urged the Supreme Court on Monday to refer its last year's verdict excluding the creamy layer within the SC/ST community from reservation benefits to a 7-judge bench for a review.
A 5-judge Constitution bench in 2018 held that the well-off members of the Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities cannot be granted the benefits of reservation in college admissions and government jobs.
The top court in the Jarnail Singh case had said that the Constitutional courts in implementing the principal of reservation will be within their jurisdiction to exclude the creamy layer from such groups or sub-groups from quota benefits by applying the principle of equality.
A bench comprising Chief Justice S A Bobde and justices B R Gavai and Surya Kant took note of the submissions of Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, that the matter be referred to a 7-judge bench as the creamy layer exclusion principle cannot be made applicable to SCs and STs.
"This a very emotive issue. I want this aspect to be referred to a larger seven judge bench as the creamy layer principle cannot be made applicable to these categories," the top law officer said.
The principle distinguishes between well-off people from the disadvantaged sections for not according the benefits of quota and presently, it applies for backward classes in pursuance of the 9-judge bench judgement in the Indra Sawhney case, also known as the Mandal case.
Senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayan, appearing for 'Samta Andolan Samiti', opposed the submissions.
The bench, which fixed the pleas for hearing after two weeks, meanwhile issued notices to the Centre and the National Commission for SCs on a fresh PIL filed by O P Shukla, President of 'National Coordination Committee for Revision of Reservation Policy', and M L Sarwan, a former IAS officer, on the issue.
The PIL has sought proper apportionment of benefits of affirmative action to "genuinely needy and deserving SC/STs" after identifying and removing those who, after enjoying long and continued benefit of reservation, are no longer identified as backward classes among the communities.
"Issue a writ to the Government of India to amend the Constitution (Scheduled Castes) Order, 1950 and the Constitution (Scheduled Tribes) order 1950, issued in exercise of the power vested under Articles 341 and 342 of the Constitution after evolving and undertaking an objective and rational test for identification of creamy layer amongst the SCs and STs and separating the same from the non-creamy layers SCs/STs...," the plea said.
The plea said that so far, the governments has not identified the creamy layer from amongst SCs/STs and as a result the well-off persons of these communities have availed of benefits of quota at the cost of under-privileged members of the same groups.
It said the plea was limited to the quota granted to SCs and STs in government jobs and admissions in public educational institutions.
The top court, in its September last year judgement, had paved the way for grant of quota for promotions in the government jobs to SCs and STs and held that the states were not required to "collect quantifiable data" reflecting the backwardness among these communities.
The matter had travelled to a 5-judge Constitution bench, which declined the demand to refer it to a seven-judge bench to reconsider its 2006 judgement that had put certain conditions for granting quota benefits in job promotions for SC/ST employees.
The apex court had clarified that there was no need to revisit its 12-year-old verdict in the M Nagaraj case which had said that the states were bound to provide quantifiable data on the backwardness of SC/ST, the facts about their inadequate representation in government jobs and the overall administrative efficiency, before providing them quota in promotions.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Kannur dental student death: Case registered against loan app operators, parents allege murder
Kannur (PTI): A case has been registered against unidentified loan app operators in connection with the death of a Kannur Dental College student in Anjarakandy, officials said on Monday.
However, the victim’s parents alleged that their son was murdered and held the college faculty responsible for his death.
The Kannur Cyber Police registered the case on Sunday night based on a complaint by an assistant professor of the college.
According to police, Nithin Raj R L, a first-year BDS student, had taken a loan through an online loan app.
After he defaulted on repayment, the app operators allegedly began contacting the assistant professor.
The FIR stated that the accused contacted the woman faculty member via MMS and WhatsApp, threatening her over repayment and attempting to siphon off money illegally.
Sources said that in cases of default, such loan app operators often send messages to all available contacts of the borrower.
Raj (22), a native of Uzhamalackal, Puthukulangara in Thiruvananthapuram district, was found critically injured near the medical college block after falling from a building on April 10 and later succumbed to his injuries.
The family alleged that Raj was subjected to emotional harassment on caste and complexion grounds by two faculty members, following which a case was registered against Dental Anatomy Department Head M K Ram and Associate Professor K T Sangeetha Nambiar for abetment of suicide and under provisions of the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
Even though notices were issued to both accused to appear for interrogation, they are yet to respond to the police, officials said.
Police officials said the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case is also examining whether Raj’s death was linked to threats from the loan app operators.
The cyber case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Sections 351(2) (criminal intimidation) and 308(3) (extortion), along with Section 66D of the Information Technology Act (cheating by personation using computer resources).
Police said Raj’s mobile phone will be examined to gather details about the loan app, and a detailed statement will be recorded from the assistant professor who received the threatening messages and calls.
Meanwhile, the SIT has recovered chat details from Raj’s phone, which indicate that he had sought more time to repay the loan.
According to police, Raj had taken a loan of Rs 14,000, and the app operators had demanded immediate repayment of Rs 8,000.
As his family was facing financial difficulties, he had requested a few weeks’ time to settle the dues.
The SIT, led by the Station House Officer of Chakkarakkallu police station, visited Raj’s house on Monday and recorded statements of his parents and sister.
The four-member team also collected digital evidence from them.
The family also met the State Police Chief Ravada Chandrasekhar and filed a petition seeking a detailed probe into the incident.
Raj’s father Rajan said his son had taken the loan for his mother’s treatment.
“We were repaying it. But recently, the repayment defaulted. If the teacher was aggrieved by the loan app’s calls and my son had done anything wrong, they should have informed us. You can check my phone, there is no call from the college,” he said.
Rajan said he had little hope of getting justice.
“They all killed my son. What justice can I expect? I worked hard for his education. We lost everything,” he said.
He also alleged that even three days after Raj’s death, there had been no communication from the college authorities.
“He was a student of that college. Not even a word from the authorities. Students there, fearing for their future, are not speaking out. At least one student should speak out for us,” he said.
Meanwhile, protests erupted at Kannur Dental College on Monday, with final-year BDS students also joining the agitation.
The college has granted leave to students of other batches following the incident.
Students alleged that the accused faculty member, M K Ram, misbehaved with students by body-shaming and physical assault.
“We were living under severe pressure. Ram was involved in body-shaming. Verbal abuse was frequent. Apart from it, he used to hit students on the head. There were also complaints against him and disciplinary action taken earlier,” a student told reporters.
Political organisations, including KSU of the Congress, SFI and DYFI of the CPI(M), MSF of the IUML and ABVP of the BJP, carried out protest marches.
KSU and SFI activists who entered the college compound were later detained and removed by police.
Kerala SC/ST Commission Chairperson Shekaran Miniyodan visited Raj’s house and interacted with his family.
He said the Commission has registered a case and sought a report from the police.
“We will collect information along with the SIT about the incident. Apart from the preliminary investigation report, we will also examine the postmortem report,” he said.
Similarly, the Kerala Youth Commission has also registered a case and recorded statements of students of the college.
Commission Chairman M Shajar said students have raised serious allegations against M K Ram and that a detailed probe would be conducted with police support.
Earlier, the Kerala State Human Rights Commission had also registered a case and sought a report from the police.
_vb_94.jpeg)