Telangana will tell SC it favours breach of 50% reservations cap
The SC sought opinion of state governments in a week on whether they were in favour of extending caste-based quota beyond the 50 per cent
Hyderabad: The state government of Telangana is in favour of crossing 50 per cent reservations in education and employment. It will submit an affidavit in the Supreme Court in this regard within a week, official sources said on Tuesday.
The SC had on Tuesday sought the opinion of all state governments within a week on whether they were in favour of extending caste-based reservations beyond the 50 per cent ceiling set by the SC in a nine- judge bench ruling in 1992.
The state government has already passed a law, Telangana Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Bill, 2017 in Legislative Assembly and Council in April 2017, increasing reservations for Muslims under the BC-E category and STs in April 2017, taking the overall quota above 50 per cent.
But these increased reservations could not be implemented even after nearly four years as the Centre had kept the state government’s legislation pending due to the cap on reservations at 50 per cent. After the passage of the bill in April 2017, the Telangana government referred it to President Ramnath Kovind for his assent, which is still pending.
Under the bill, quota for STs were increased to 10 per cent from the existing six 10 per cent, while that for BC-E category (backward sections among Muslim community) were increased to 12 per cent from the existing four per cent. This increased overall reservations in state from the existing 50 per cent to 62 per cent, breaching the 50 per cent cap set by the apex court.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao had earlier criticised the Centre several times for blocking the state government’s enhanced reservations. He even threatened to file a case against the Centre in the Supreme Court. However, the state did not file any case.
The state government now wants to take advantage of the ongoing case in the Supreme Court regarding exceeding 50 per cent reservations quota, by submitting its opinion in favour of an increase and implementing enhanced reservations for Muslims and STs, if the Supreme Court permits it.