Quota: TN govt files petition in apex court

The Tamil Nadu Goverment has filed a petition in the Supreme Court seeking to be heard in the case relating to the 27 per cent quota fixed by the Centre for OBCs in Central educational institutions.

The petition filed by the Karunanidhi Government through counsel V G Pragasam submitted that the State should be heard in the matter as any order passed by the apex court would have considerable bearing in Tamil Nadu.

Supporting the 27 per cent OBC quota benefit provided by the Centre, the state government claimed that it was a pioneer in extending reservation benefits to the SCs, STs and OBCs in the State and hence its views have to be considered by the apex court before passing any judgement.

The apex court is expected to take up the application on May 8 along with the main case. A Bench of Justices Arijit Pasayat and L S Panta had earlier stayed the implementation of the 27 per cent reservation benefits for OBCs.

The issue had assumed considerble political overtones with the UPA Government seeking an early hearing of the matter and also urging the apex court to refer the issue to a Constitution Bench since it involved substantive issue of Constitutional rights.