Tamil Nadu to file review petition against SC nod to EWS quota

CHENNAI: The DMK has decided to file a review petition in the Supreme Court against the verdict upholding the validity of the 103rd Amendment to the Constitution, thus allowing the implementation of 10 per cent reservation for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) among the upper castes in employment and education, DMK general secretary Duraimurugan announced.

The move was to protect the social justice of 82 per cent of the country’s population comprising people from the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, safeguard the basic structure of the Constitution and uphold principles of reservation laid down through the judgment on the Mandal Commission case, he said.

The DMK, which had been traditionally fighting for social justice, will take up the case, Mr Duraimurugan said in a statement on Tuesday, pointing to the remarks of one of the dissenting Supreme Courts judges, Justice S. Ravindra Bhat, that the amendment will weaken social justice and shatter the basic structure of the Constitution. He also noted that Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit had sided with Justice Bhat.

The Tamil Nadu government had announced earlier on Tuesday that it would convene a meeting of all legislature parties on November 12 to discuss the next course of action following the Supreme Court upholding the 10 per cent EWS quota. It said that chief minister M.K. Stalin will chair the meeting.

“This quota system is against social justice and equality and contrary to the social justice policy,” a government release said about the EWS reservation.

The CM has written to all legislature party leaders on the matter and each party can nominate two representatives for the meeting, it said.

Stalin had on Monday said the Supreme Court verdict on EWS was a setback to century-long social justice struggle. Tamil Nadu has 69 per cent quota in education and jobs and a case is currently pending in the apex court against the reservation system.