Internal Reservation Law For Vanniyars Unconstitutional: Madras High Court

The DMK government too after the elections permitted admissions to colleges based on the legislation.

Madurai bench of Madras HC | Credit: ABP Nadu

Chennai: The Madurai bench of Madras High Court on Monday declared the legislation providing 10.5% internal reservation to Vanniyars from 20% reservation earmarked for MBC category as unconstitutional. The High Court also quashed the government order providing internal quota by stating it was “ultra vires of the constitution”.

On Monday, The Court gave the order while hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the internal reservation provided to Vanniakula Kshatriyas.

In February 2021, the then Tamil Nadu government led by Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami passed a law providing internal reservation to Vanniyars hours before the model code of conduct kicked in the state ahead of Tamil Nadu Assembly Election 2021. 

The Bill passed in the Assembly said, there were several representations from Vanniakula Kshatriyas in the MBC category to provide internal reservation for admissions to educational institutions and jobs in the state. Hence, the Chairman of Tamil Nadu Backward classes commission took note of the demand and reviewed the representation to provide internal reservation within MBC. So based on the review, the commission recommended that internal reservation can be provided as 10.5% quota to Vanniakula Kshatriya, 7% quota to MBC and denotified communities, and 2.5% quota to MBCs.

Following this, the Tamil Nadu government has decided to accept the recommendation of the commission to provide reservation, Edappadi said. The then CM also added that the state has started works for conducting caste-wise census within six months following which the reservation will be changed based on the findings.

After the Bill was passed in the Assembly, PMK leader Ramadoss called the then CM and thanked him for fulfilling his demand for years. 

The DMK government too after the elections permitted admissions to colleges based on the legislation.