The Madras High Court ruled on Wednesday that; the Constituent Assembly intended the quota system to remain in place only during the early years of Independent India; but it is currently being extended indefinitely through successive revisions, sustaining the caste system in the process.
The Court made the remark in a footnote while dismissing the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) party’s contempt of court petition against the Central government on the issue of implementing OBC reservation in All India Quota (AIQ) medical college seats.
A Bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjib Banerjee and Justice PD Audikesavalu observed, “Rather than eliminating the caste system; the current trend appears to be perpetuating it by indefinitely extending a measure that was intended to last only for a limited time to cover the Republic’s infancy and possibly adolescence. Though the life of a nation-state may not be comparable to the physical process of aging; it should be more mature at the age of 70.”
The Court also stated that; individuals should be given more power so that “merit may eventually decide matters of admission, appointment, and promotion” rather than the reservation system.
It added further,
“The entire concept of reservation that appears to have been addressed by the Constituent Assembly while framing the Constitution may have been turned on its head by repeated amendments and; the veritable reinvigoration of the caste system and; even extending it to denominations where it does not exist”
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