In a joint statement, the two leaders said the Friday judgement of the apex court was a 'victory' to the party's long-pending and sustained plea on the OBC quota front, they said, adding it will enable increasing seats in medical admissions.
According to the bench headed by Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna, the submissions which have been made before this court over a span of two days necessitates a detailed interim order on the applicability of the EWS criteria.
A bench of justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the matter before the court on behalf of the Centre, that the EWS quota matter is being heard by a three-judge bench of the top court.
In a tweet, MP Congress chief Kamal Nath supported the stir and said the BJP government in the state was quelling the protest by force despite claiming to be well-wishers of OBCs. He asked OBCs, tribal and Dalits to continue the fight and promised the support of the Congress.
Supreme Court had directed the State Election Commission (SEC) of Maharashtra to notify 27 per cent seats in the local body, which were reserved for the OBCs, as general category so that the poll process could be taken forward.
It has also urged the apex court to direct the local body elections to be deferred for four months with a mandate to the state government to come out with the report of the commission and directing the SEC to hold the elections accordingly.
Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP blamed it on the Biju Janata Dal government in the state for not keeping 27 per cent reservation for the OBCs in the state.
The development comes after the Supreme Court decided to strike down the recent 27 percent reservation in favour of Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies made by Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh governments.
In March this year, the apex court had said that reservation in favour of OBCs in concerned local bodies in Maharashtra cannot exceed aggregate 50 per cent of the total seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and OBCs taken together.
Chief Justice of India N V Ramana exhorted upon women lawyers that reservation is a ‘matter of right, and not a matter a charity’ to them.
The top court noted that in its earlier order, the state governments were directed to finalise the issues which are peculiar to them so that the court can proceed in the matter. A three-judge bench asked state governments to identify issues and submit a report within two weeks.
The consolidated guidelines were issued over two years after the Centre announced 10 per cent EWS reservation for initial postings and admissions into educational institutions.
The BJD’s move comes barely three days after a delegation of the party MPs met Union Home Minister Amit Shah and sought a legislation to raise quota for OBCs in the state.
Apart from central universities, the Ministry of Education's data showed 89 per cent of the posts sanctioned for OBCs lying vacant in the Indian Institute for Science, Bangalore.
The government extended reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBC) and Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) in the coveted All India Quota (AIQ) for medical seats in Government Medical Colleges of the country.
The decision is also in sync with the significant reforms carried out in the field of medical education since 2014, the statement underlined.
The SC bench said, 'We are of the view that the course of action followed by the High Court in the impugned order is salutary and does not call for any interference.'
The senior BJP leader said OBCs are being purposely deprived of the political reservation.
He would take his colour, brushes and canvas outside to paint and talk with his love. He would stand close to the window and paint, keeping an eye on his muse.
They say the violin mimics the human sound. In his case, it was that of love, of longing. He didn’t know any other way of loving.
Younger people do not have much progressive beliefs; a 2017 survey found that one-third of young people opposed inter-caste marriage.
The pandemic has made it clear that virtual learning is here to stay. In the West, the big question is whether it will dilute the quality of the college experience and education. In India, which grapples with digital divide, the question remains whether this will reach most people at all.
Even after two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, many 'informed' individuals in India continue to deny the virus with unscientific claims and unfounded data. The latest? Omicron will end the pandemic.
Across Asia there are deeply entrenched obstacles to a mode of higher education that is liberal in multiple senses – disciplinary and epistemological but also social and political.
The two incidents in the recent past, one in Mon district of Nagaland and the other at Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, undermined the core principles democracy and federalism.