TN govt to consult legal experts to ensure 10.5% quota for Vanniyars

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin on Thursday (April 7) told the state Assembly that his government will consult legal experts to uphold the 10.5% reservation for Vanniyars (Most Backward Community) just as it secured a 7.5% quota for students of state-run schools for admission in professional courses.

Refusing to be drawn into an argument that the law to provide 10.5% reservation for Vanniyars is “temporary”, he said, “this is an issue concerning the state’s social justice and special reservation.”

Also read: Long history of Tamil Nadu’s contentious quota for Vanniyars

“As far as the quota for Vanniyars is concerned, the government will consult legal experts and surely uphold social justice,” he said responding to a special call attention motion brought by AIADMK, the Vanniyar dominated Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) and Tamizhaga Vazhurimai Katchi (TVK).

He pointed out that the Supreme Court had clearly observed that the state legislature and government have powers to enact laws on (internal) reservation.

Accusing the previous AIADMK regime of hurriedly enacting the reservation legislation, the Chief Minister claimed though the recommendation was made in 2012, the then AIADMK government had enacted the law only in 2021 and that too “half-an-hour before the election commissions model code of conduct came into force” for the April Assembly election.

The Supreme Court, on March 31, struck down the 10.5% reservation provided to Vanniyar community saying there is no substantial basis for treating them differently, he pointed out.

Stalin’s allegation against AIADMK

The bench had upheld the Madras High Court order quashing the reservation.

Though the 2021 Act was brought by the AIADMK, his government engaged senior counsels Rakesh Dwivedi, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mukul Rohatgi and P Wilson to effectively argue the case since it was the DMK that had ensured 20 percent reservation for MBC, the CM said.

“But both the Madras High Court and the Supreme Court struck down the reservation as the AIADMK government brought the legislation in haste,” Stalin alleged.

The PMK and others moved the Supreme Court challenging the November 1, 2021 judgment of the Madras High Court quashing the quota for Vanniyars.

AIADMK reacts

Later, speaking to reporters outside the Assembly House, Leader of the Opposition AIADMK K Palaniswami claimed that the CM wrongly accused his regime of enacting the 2021 act hastily. But in reality, shortly after the enactment, elections were announced and there was a regime change.

“The DMK government had failed to extend the term of Justice Kulsekharan Commission to collect quantifiable data on castes, communities and tribes. Also, the state government did not engage senior counsels to argue the case successfully providing the report of the Backward Class Commission on internal reservation headed by J A Ambasankar,” Palaniswami claimed.

The former chief minister asserted that since the days of party founder and former CM M G Ramachandran, the AIADMK has been following the policy of adequate representation for all sections.

“Accordingly we enacted laws to provide 10.5% reservation for Vanniyars,” he said.