Parliament LIVE: Centre Passes Buck to Congress Over SC's Quota in Jobs Order, Irate Oppn Walks Out

Parliament LIVE: Union minister Thawar Chand Gehlot said in Parliament today that the Centre had nothing to do with the Supreme Court’s ruling that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions, forcing an irate Opposition to walk out. “The Centre was never made a party to the case, nor were we asked to present any declaration. The matter arose due to a decision taken by Uttarkhand government in 2012. There was Congress government in the state at that time,” Gehlot said in the Lok Sabha.

The Supreme Court in its judgment last Friday had said that there is “no fundamental right which inheres in an individual to claim reservation in promotions.” The opposition Congress has demanded that the union government either file a review petition in the Supreme Court or amend the Constitution to make reservation a fundamental right in the wake of the recent apex court order.

The Supreme Court had said that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions. The apex court said this while dealing with pleas on the Uttarakhand government’s September 5, 2012 decision to fill up all posts in public services in the state without providing reservations to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.

Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge said that a constitutional matter should not have been heard by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, but the full constitutional bench. “It is a constitutional matter and only two people have given a judgement, which will have an impact from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and Calcutta to Ahmedabad,” the former union minister said.

He stressed that such matters, which would affect Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Backward Classes and the economically weaker sections, who are entitled for 10 per cent reservation, should be represented properly. The judgment, he said, will have repercussions not just in Uttarakhand, but also in Uttar Pradesh and several other states.

The Congress leader accused the BJP of trying to ‘abolish’ the Constitution and having reservation on its agenda. “I know their (BJPs) agenda. They want to finish the Constitution, finish reservation in promotions, so they are going step by step. But they cannot do it immediately because people are awakened now,” Kharge said.

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