Controversy on Admission Criteria for OBC Students
The Supreme Courts attempt to find an expeditious solution
to the controversy on admission criteria for OBC students got derailed on Wednesday
27th July, when a senior advocate commented on the unsuitability of the Justice
R V Raveendran-headed bench to adjudicate the dispute.
The bench of Justices Raveendran and A K Patnaik took umbrage to senior advocate
P P Raos remarks and referred the matter to the Chief Justice of India for placing
it before another bench.
This will delay a decision as the appeal will have to be heard afresh. Any decision
will only be implemented from the next academic session and central educational
institutions will now have to complete admissions on the basis of eligibility criteria
rather than cut-off.
The dispute was over whether OBC candidates should be admitted on the basis of 10%
less than the eligibility criteria for general category students or the last cut-off
mark for admission of general candidates.
The SC bench was veering towards an opinion that 10% of last cutoff for general
category, which is as high as 99% in some colleges, would mean negating the mandate
of the law reserving 27% seats for OBCs.
The bench had said OBC students must be admitted on the basis of eligibility criteria
which is 10% less than that for the general category as against the petitioner’s
plea that it should be 10% below the last cut-off for general category students.
Senior advocate P P Rao, arguing for an intervener, said the matter should be heard
by Justice Dalveer Bhandari, who as part of the constitution bench had dealt with
the issue of cutoffs for OBC students. Justice Raveendran was also part of the constitution
bench. The matter was placed before a bench headed by him as he was senior to Justice
Bhandari.
Justice Raveendran reacted sharply and said if Rao did not want him to hear the
petition; he would recuse from the matter and passed the order referring it to the
CJI.
Govt. must preserve Ravi Varma’s art: HC
The Kerala high court on Wednesday observed that preserving the paintings
of renowned Kerala artist Raja Ravi Varma deserves the attention of the government
at the highest level. The observation was made by a division bench of Chief Justice
J Chelameswar and Justice P R Ramachandra Menon on a plea by a great grandniece
of Varma, who sought a directive to acquire the four auctioned paintings of Varma
by a Bangalore-based private auctioneer and preserve them in one of the best government
owned museums in India.
Courtesy: Times of India
