Minorities 4.5% Quota-A.P.High Court does it again

In a very unfortunate move, the Andhra Pradesh high court has struck down the 4.5 per cent central sub-quota for minorities within the OBC quota, holding that reservations can't be based purely on religious grounds. Severely indicting the Centre for handling the issue in a casual manner, a division bench of the AP high court, comprising chief justice Madan B Lokur and justice Sanjay Kumar, said the sub-quota was on religious lines and not based on any other intelligible consideration. "There was no rationale or empirical data to justify such an action," the bench said.

Stating that no evidence was presented before the bench to "justify the classification of these minorities as a homogenous group or as more backward classes deserving some special treatment", the court held that "Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) do not form a homogeneous group but a heterogeneous group."

This is the fourth time that the Andhra HC has struck down minority sub-quota, which the AP government has been pushing at the state level since 2004. The first order offering Muslims 5 per cent quota in public employment and educational institutions was issued by the state government on July 7, 2004. This was challenged in the high court, which in September 2004 struck it down for being "wholly unconstitutional."

The Congress government ordered the AP Backward Classes Commission to conduct a fresh enquiry on the status of Muslims and, upon presentation of its report, issued an ordinance on June 2005 giving 5 per cent quota for Muslims in educational institutions and state government jobs. Later, when the assembly passed a bill to replace the ordinance, it was challenged in the AP high court. In November 2005, the Act was struck as unconstitutional for being religion-specific.

The Congress government made a third attempt at bringing back the Muslim sub-quota. The exercise ended with another ordinance decreeing 5% quota for socially and educationally backward Muslims, which in August 2007 became an Act. The Act was challenged, and a seven-judge bench issued a majority verdict striking it down as "unsustainable."
The AP government appealed to the Supreme Court against the high court order. A bench headed by ex-CJI KG Balakrishnan allowed the appeal while staying the judgement of the high court, allowing 4 per cent reservations for Muslims listed in Schedule of the Act to continue. The case is pending in the Supreme Court.

Since the Union Cabinet approved a sub-quota within the 27% OBC quota on 22nd December, 2011, a confusion (genuine or deliberate) has prevailed, with a section of media and Muslim leaders calling it a Muslim quota while others taking it as a sub-quota for all defined religious minorities enlisted under the OBC category. However, a notification from Department of Personnel & Training (Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances & Pensions, Govt. of India) that was issued on 23rd Dec., removed that confusion.

The notification has this title: Reservation for Other Backward Classes in Civil Posts and Services under the Govt. of India — Sub-quota for Minority Communities. Even as the title itself makes it clear that the sub-quota is not for only Muslims but minority communities, the body of the notification makes the things clearer and says that it is not given on the religious basis but on the basis of the backwardness.

Below is the 23rd Dec. notification from Department of Personnel & Training (Ministry of Personnel Public Grievances & Pensions, Govt. of India)

The Government had carefully considered the recommendation of Ranganath Mishra Commission and it decided to carve out a sub-quota of 4.5% for minorities, as defined under Section 2 (c) of the National Commission for Minorities Act, 1992, from within the 27% reservation for OBCs as notified by the  Official Memorandum. The castes / communities of the said backward classes pf minorities which were included in the Central list of OBCs, notified state-wise from time to time by the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, were covered by the sub-quota of 4.5% which is also evident from the ministry notification signed by Sharad Kumar Srivastava, Under Secretary to the Government of India.

The Government of India had set up the National Commission for Religious and Linguistic Minorities (Ranganath Mishra Commission) to suggest criteria for the identification of the socially and economically backward sections amongst Religious and Linguistic Minorities and to recommend measures for their welfare, including reservation in Government employment. The Commission submitted its report to the Government on l0th May, 2007, wherein it had, inter-alia, recommended creation of a sub-quota for minorities from within the reservation of 27% available to OBCs, in Government employment.


Who are minorities?

Vide a Gazette notification issued on 23rd October 1993 by Ministry of Welfare, Government of India, five religious communities viz; the Muslims, Christians, Sikhs, Buddhists and Zoroastrians (Parsis) were notified as minority communities. As per the 2001 Census, these five religious minority communities constitute 18.42% of the country’s population. Among these communities, those who are economically backward would be covered by this quota and not just because they belong to these communities so where is the question of the quota given on the basis of the religion and this sub quota is based on equitable distribution of benefits amongst communities concerned. However, Mr.Salman Khursheed saheb Union Minister for Law and Justice has said that the government would appeal against this in Supreme Court.


The Need of the hour is that all the political parties should come on a common platform and reach the consensus to make the necessary amendement in the constitution to give the reservation to the minorities and the muslims in India rather than subjecting it for judicial scrunity everytime the government announces some quota or the other.  I urge that let the quota be given based on the proportion of the population of every community in India so that there will not be any confusion anywhere.