Thread by @LawBeatInd

#SupremeCourt to continue hearing pleas challenging Madras High Court judgment which declared the 10.5% internal reservation to the #Vanniyar community under the existing 20% #Reservation to Most Backward Classes by Tamil Nadu Government unconstitutional.
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Senior Advocate Gopal Shankarnarayanan appearing for the respondent continues arguing...

Justice L Nageswara Rao- The identification of the Community has been done in 1994, Can it be said that the giving 10.5% is identification please focus on this and make your submissions.

Shankarnarayanan - in 1994 act it doesn't appear that there is a particular community, section 7 of the 1994 Act they are using the phrase that it includes the backward classes and as may be notified.
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Shankarnarayanan- If at all the President issues a notification, then the rest can be done by the Government.

J Rao- But in 2021 Act the SEBC's are defined.

Shankarnarayanan - Absolutely Yes, the definition clause I'm not denying.

Shankarnarayanan- While enacting the Act, you had to follow 338B, you didn't follow it, the consultation was to be done with NCBC which was not done.
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Shankarnarayanan- The first aspect is consultation with NCBC, and I don't think that there is an option of it being not mandatory and another is that The State didn't have the power.
I'm greatful for a patient hearing.
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Senior Advocate Rajiv Dhavan appearing for the respondent A Mayilerumperumal starts his submissions.
Can population be a basis for inclusion of a particular class, my submission is no. Another aspect is the Data and Class, Dhavan submits.

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Dhavan- Their submission was that the powers is there, but my submission is the conclusion in Maharashtra Case, the President alone to the exclusion of all authorities, there is only one Authority and that is the President alone and this is negative to them.
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Dhavan- The basic argument in this case is Population, the impugned judgment says that the Attorney General said that the amendment has been made on the basis of data. one thing is certain that the population cannot be a factor.
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Dhavan- In Indira Sahani 11 factors were given.
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Dhavan- Now for my submission on Data, the only suggestions came from the Chairman of the commission that too on the request of the State, so an arrangement was made. There was no data.
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Dhavan further added that "each of the points that I have indicated are supported by the impugned judgment."

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Dhavan- There is no wider purpose of providing the reservation than rewarding the #Vanniyar caste.

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Dhavan- I ask myself a very simple question, what is the basis of this Act, what was the Home work done for this Act, in this case it is obvious that only has been taken into account and the competence only lies with the President.
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*only one factor has been taken into account.

Dhavan - The Act 2021 is legislatively incompetent, the State has not power. We are concerned with identification and quantum and it can not be denied but it is in Presidential power. It must be supported by carefully collected Data, in this case which is not there.
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Dhavan- Your Lordships are addressing the question of validity of this Act, if your Lordships invalidates this act then this entire list will have to go off.
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(Retd.) Justice S Nagamuthu. Sr Adv commences arguments on behalf of another respondent.
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Nagamuthu- Referring to a report where 14 members of the Commission defered stated that the report of the Chairman cannot be treated as a report of the Commission at all.

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Nagamuthu - It was the Chairman's individual recommendation and not the recommendation of the commission at all.

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The bench to continue hearing the matter after lunch.
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Nagamuthu - Why this community alone has been given 10.5% reservation, this creates a discrimination.

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Nagamuthu - The commission filed it's report only in the year 2020 but this was without any data, however, the High Court then had to appointed another commission which I don't know how submitted it in 6 months, and later the reasoning was given within 3 days.
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Nagamuthu- Bill was passed in a hurried manney, it was placed the same day, it was passed on the same day and sent to Governor for assent and the Governor gave the assent within 2 days.
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Therefore my humble submission is that this violates Article 14, 15, Nagamuthu added.
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Nagamuthu concludes arguments, another Senior Counsel continues arguing for the respondent.

J Rao- According to 102nd amendment the President has to give notification giving a list, and the list prepared earlier will go...

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Sr Counsel- There is an identification, there is a sub-clasification, for the purpose of sub-clasification the amendment cannot be violated.
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Counsel- I don't know about other States but in Tamil Nadu the list of OBC and NBCs, not a single entry has been atteched, but how in the entire list on the basis of the cast may be added.

J Khanwilkar- Then the entire list has to go.
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Counsel- I went out for my daughter's registration of marriage they asked me about my cast, cast cannot be the only criteria for providing reservation.
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Senior Counsel Colin Gonsalves appearing for the Respondent - I have only one point milords.
The single point is this, The Amba Shankar report was relied upon by the petitioner on the basis of data, analysis of the very backward classes in the backward classes.
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Gonsalves - In the 83 report the #Vanniyar community was infact the most advance community amongst the backward classes.
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Gonsalves referring to admission data in MBBS, engineering, law, veterinary science colleges says that the #Vanniyar community is the most dominant amongst all.

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I'm getting this table from a reply in an RTI application, Gonsalves added while concluding.
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Senior Advocate Bala Subramanyam appearing for the Respondent submits that 2021 Act is absolutely in the teeth of Article 254 and that is why it is void.
The first limb of incompetency is because it is contrary to Maratha Judgment.
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Subramanyam- the question number 5 in the Indira Shani which was answered, in this context the answer was given that a sub-clasification can be done between more backward and most backward. And that is what exactly the 94 act had done.
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However, Subramanyam submits that the 1994 Act and 2021 Act are contrary to each other and they cannot follow parallelly.
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Only one more judgment in the Jat reservation issue, Ran Singh one may also be referred. Subramanyam concludes his arguments.
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Senior Advocate Prakash Reddy submits that in SV case before the Supreme Court the stand of the Tamil Nadu Government was the non existence of report.
With regards to the reasonableness of the enactment if it is so we all belong to the MBCs.
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Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta appearing for Respondent that there has been no effort to collect data.

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Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi appearing for the State of Tamil Nadu- The argument is that in the Jaishree Patil the list has been frozen and you cannot change it, as a matter of reality there is no change in the list. The list is the same since pre 94.

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Singhvi- The list is the same, simply there is an allocation of categories, when there is no alternation to within a class except the sub division, there is no problem.
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Singhvi- It is a clarificatory amendment, and a clarificatory amendment always per se is retrospective and the freez could not have been that I cannot sub classify within a category.

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Senior Advocate Rakesh Diwedi appearing for the State submitted that, The cast was a basis of consideration but it was not the end, the Indira Sahani has said that castes are equivalent to class.
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Diwedi- This is not merely caste, the reports have submitted appropriate justification before the legislature.

Sr ADV Radhakrishnan- Milords out of DGPs and DSPs none of them is from the Vanniyar community.

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All the counsels have concluded their arguments today.

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UPDATE: The bench has reserved its judgement in the #VanniyarReservation matter while directing the parties to file their written submissions, if any, within 3 days.
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