AP Muslim quota subject to HC order

Courtesy :Inputs from Deccan Chronicle

Hyderabad: The AP High Court on Tuesday referred the four per cent reservation for Muslims to a larger bench and said that admissions being carried out under the quota ordinance would be subject to the final order passed by the court. A division bench admitted writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the reservation ordinance but refused to stay it.

The bench referred the case to a larger bench as the issue pertained to substantial public importance. It ordered notices on the government and the BC Welfare Commission and other respondents and asked the government to file its counter affidavit within two weeks.

Several writs were filed challenging the Ordinance by Mr T. Muralidhar Rao, Pratyusha Reddy, a student, and other students. Senior counsel Ramakrishna Reddy appearing for the petitioner contended that providing reservation to a community based on religious considerations was unconstitutional.

He said that when representations made by more than 120 classes of the Hindu community were pending for inclusion in the Backward Classes lists, the BC Commission had considered only the Muslim community. He said the commission had acted upon the diktat of the government.