Supreme Court refuses to stay 10 pc quota for poor in jobs, admissions
New Delhi, Feb 8 : The Supreme Court Friday refused to stay the Centre's decision to grant 10 per cent quota in jobs and admissions to poor candidates in the general category.
The apex court, however, agreed to examine the validity of the law and issued the notice to the Centre on the plea filed by businessman and Congress supporter Tehseen Poonawala.
"At this stage, we are not inclined to pass any order," said a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi.
Senior advocate Rajeev Dhavan, appearing for Poonawala, told the bench that his only grievance at this stage was that this quota should not breach the ceiling of 50 per cent as mandated by the apex court.
The bench, also comprising Justices Deepak Gupta and Sanjiv Khanna, had earlier issued notice to the Centre on similar petitions and on Friday ordered tagging of the fresh plea of Poonawalla with pending ones.
Petitions have been filed by parties, including 'Janhit Abhiyan' and NGO 'Youth For Equality', challenging the Centre's decision.
The petition, filed by Youth For Equality through its president Kaushal Kant Mishra, has sought the quashing of the Constitution (103 Amendment) Act, 2019, saying that the economic criterion cannot be the sole basis for reservation.
It said the bill violates basic feature of the Constitution as reservation on economic grounds cannot be limited to the general category and the overall 50 per cent ceiling limit cannot be breached.
In the present form, the upper limit of quota goes up to 60 per cent which violated the decisions of the apex court.
Referring to the nine-judge bench decision of the apex court in the landmark 1992 Indira Sawhney case, the petition said the latest amendment completely violated the Constitutional norm that economic criterion cannot be the only basis of reservation.
It also said that the amendments fail to consider that Articles 14 and 16 form the basic feature of equality, and that they have been violated with the doing away of the restraints that were imposed on the reservation policy, i.e. the 50 per cent ceiling limit and the exclusion of economic status as a sole criterion.
The fresh filed by businessman Poonawalla has sought quashing of the bill, saying that backwardness for the purpose of reservation cannot be defined by "economic status alone".
The top court had earlier refused to stay the Modi government's decision to grant the reservation but agreed to examine the validity of the constitutional amendment which paved the way for this quota.
In poll year, the Modi government has come out with the constitutional amendment bill giving quota benefits to the poor among general category candidates.
The quota will be over and above the existing 50 per cent reservation to SCs, STs and Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha cleared the bill on January 8 and 9 respectively, and has been signed by President Ram Nath Kovind.
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Philippines president declares national energy emergency amid global fuel supply risks
Manila: Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr has declared a national energy emergency, citing the “imminent danger” to the country’s fuel supply due to global disruptions linked to the ongoing conflict involving the US, Israel, and Iran, Al Jazeera reported.
“The declaration of a state of national energy emergency will enable the government… to implement responsive and coordinated measures under existing laws to address the risks posed by disruptions in the global energy supply and the domestic economy,” Al Jazeera quoted Marcos Jr as saying.
As part of the emergency response, a committee has been formed to ensure the orderly movement, supply, distribution and availability of fuel, food, medicine, agricultural products and other essential goods, he said.
The emergency declaration, which will remain in force for one year, allows the government to procure fuel in advance and take action against hoarding and profiteering.
Authorities are also empowered to take action against the hoarding, profiteering and manipulation of petroleum product supplies.
Energy Secretary Sharon Garin said the country currently has about 45 days of fuel supply based on current consumption. She added that the government is working to procure 1 million barrels of oil from countries within and outside Southeast Asia to build a buffer stock, though uncertainties remain.
Meanwhile, Philippine Ambassador to the US Jose Manuel Romualdez said the government is in talks with Washington to secure exemptions that would allow for the purchase of oil from countries under US sanctions.
The announcement comes amid rising public discontent. Transport workers, commuters, and consumer groups have planned a two-day strike to protest fuel price hikes and what they call inadequate government response.
Piston, a federation of public transport associations, described the declaration of a national energy emergency as a “superficial band-aid that deliberately ignores the structural roots of the fuel crisis”.
“If the government genuinely intends to protect transport workers and commuters from this geopolitical crisis, it would immediately suspend the Excise Tax and Value-Added Tax on petroleum products to drastically lower prices overnight,” Al Jazeera quoted Piston as saying.
Renato Reyes Jr, of the progressive civil society coalition Bayan, said the declaration “does not address the basic problem of runaway oil prices and [their] effects on the mass transport system and other sectors in the country”.
As part of the government’s mitigation measures, students and workers in some cities are being given free access to bus rides, and the government has started to provide a 5,000 peso subsidy for public transport workers, including motorcycle taxi drivers, to help them cope with rising fuel costs.
