Chennai: The DMK today moved the court against the Centre’s 10 percent reservation for the poor among the general category.
In its plea before the Madras High Court, the main opposition party said, “The concept of reservation, being an exception to the equality clause, is only justified when it is used for the purpose of upliftment of backward communities that have suffered discrimination and oppression.”
Moving the plea on behalf of the petitioner, senior counsel P Wilson said, “It is well settled that the ceiling limit of 50 per cent in the reservation is part of the basic structure and has been asserted by the Supreme Court in several cases. However, in Tamilnadu, the ceiling limit is 69 per cent due to the Tamilnadu Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 1993 which is placed in the IX Schedule.”
“Hence, the reservation cannot be beyond 69 per cent in the state. However, the recent amendments enable reservation to go up to 79 per cent and the same is unconstitutional,” he stated.