Will oppose any move to apply creamy layer criteria in quota for SCs/STs, says Athawale
Mumbai (PTI): Union minister Ramdas Athawale has strongly opposed any move to apply creamy layer criteria to reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, a comment coming in the backdrop of a historic Supreme Court verdict on sub-classifications within these communities for wider quota benefits.
Athawale, who heads the Republican Party on India (Athawale), however, noted that the Supreme Court's decision of sub-classification of SCs/STs by states will provide justice to castes that are more backward among these groups.
Speaking here on Friday, the Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment also demanded similar sub-classifications for OBCs and general category members.
"The reservation for SCs/STs is based on caste. The RPI (A) will strongly oppose any move to apply the criteria of creamy layer to reservation for SCs and STs," Athawale, whose party is a constituent of the BJP-led NDA, said.
A seven-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud on Thursday held by a 6:1 majority that further sub-classification of SCs and STs by states can be permitted to ensure quotas for castes that are more backward among them.
Four out of the six judges who agreed that states are empowered to make sub-classifications wrote in their separate judgments that those in the creamy layer must be excluded from enjoying the benefits of reservation.
States must evolve a policy for identifying the creamy layer even among the Scheduled Castes (SC) and Schedule Tribes (ST) and deny them the benefit of reservation, Supreme Court judge Justice B R Gavai said.
Athawale said there are 1,200 Scheduled Castes in the country of which 59 are in Maharashtra.
He said as per the apex court judgement, the Maharashtra government should form a commission to study Scheduled Castes and sub-classify them under A, B, C, D categories.
This will give justice to all castes falling under the SC category, maintained the Union minister.
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Bengaluru court extends judicial custody of Darshan & other accused till September 12
Bengaluru (PTI): A court here on Monday extended till September 12 the judicial custody of Kannada actor Darshan Thoogudeepa along with his friend Pavithra Gowda and others, who are accused in the Renukaswamy murder case.
All the 17 accused, including Darshan and Pavithra, were produced before the 24th Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate court through video conferencing from various prisons across the state, where they are lodged, as their judicial custody ended today.
Police last week submitted to the court a 3,991-page preliminary charge sheet in the case.
Darshan is currently lodged in Ballari prison. He was shifted there from the Parappana Agrahara Central jail here by obtaining court permission, after a photograph of him hanging out with three others, including a rowdy-sheeter, on the lawns of the jail had gone viral, sparking an uproar.
In the picture, the actor is seen in a relaxed mood, sitting on a chair and holding a cigarette and a coffee mug. Also, a purported video of Darshan speaking to a person over a video call from the prison too had surfaced on social media.
The court had also permitted shifting of other co-accused in the murder case to various prisons in the state.
Other accused -- Pawan, Raghavendra and Nandish -- are now lodged in Mysuru Jail, Jagadish and Lakshmana in Shivamogga Jail, Dhanraj in Dharwad Jail, Vinay in Vijayapura Jail, Nagaraj in Kalaburagi/Gulbarga Jail, and Pradosh in Belagavi Jail.
Three accused -' Pavithra Gowda, Anukumar, and Deepak -- continue to remain at Parappana Agrahara Central Jail here. Four accused -- Ravi, Karthik, Nikhil and Keshavamurthy -- were earlier shifted to Tumakuru prison and they continue to remain lodged there.
Nine prison officials, including the Chief Superintendent of the Parappana Agrahara jail, were suspended over their "lapses" after a preliminary probe into "special treatment" to Darshan.
Also, three FIRs were registered, including against Darshan, under sections of the Prisons Act and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to police sources, 33-year-old Renukaswamy, a fan of the actor, had sent obscene messages to Pavithra, which enraged Darshan, allegedly leading to his murder. His body was found near a stormwater drain next to an apartment in Sumanahalli here on June nine.
Raghavendra, one of the accused who is part of Darshan's fan club in Chitradurga, had brought Renukaswamy to a shed in R R Nagar here, on the pretext that the actor wanted to meet him. It was in this shed that he was allegedly tortured and murdered.
According to the post-mortem report, Renukaswamy, a native of Chitradurga, died due to shock and haemorrhage as a result of multiple blunt injuries.
Police sources said Pavithra, who is accused number one, was the "major cause" for Renukaswamy’s murder, claiming that it has been proved from the probe that she instigated other accused, conspired with them, and took part in the crime.
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