Hyderabad, November 7
The Andhra Pradesh High Court today struck down a legislation of the state government providing for 5 per cent reservation to Muslims in jobs and educational institutions.

The Division Bench headed by Chief Justice Bilal Nazki unanimously ruled that reservations based on religion were unconstitutional and that the Backward Classes Commission, based on whose report the ordinance was promulgated, had failed to evolve any reasonable criteria for categorising Muslims among Backward Classes.

“The entire process is vitiated by arbitrariness and failure to adopt reasonable criteria. Thus, the, reservation act is ultra vires of the Constitution,” the court said.

Reacting to the judgment, Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy later told the media that the state government would appeal to the Supreme Court.

Speaking for the Bench comprising Mr Justice Raghuram, Mr Justice V.V. S Rao, Mr Justice N.V Ramana and Mr Justice R. Subhash Reddy, Mr Justice Nazki observed that the BC Commission went about the job mechanically and did not look into the peculiar customs prevalent among the Muslim community which may have contributed to their backwardness socially and educationally.

The commission, did not adopt a ‘proper methodology’ and hence categorisation of the entire Muslim community as Backward Class based on ‘defective advice’ given by the Commission was untenable, the court said. This is the second time that the Congress government had faced a legal setback in its efforts to push through the legislation for Muslim reservation.

An earlier ordinance promulgated by the Rajasekhara Reddy government in July 2004 was struck off by the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Subsequently, in accordance with the directions of the court, the state government asked the Backward Classes Commission to look into the matter and make recommendations for according quota to the Muslims.

The opposition TDP and BJP have blamed the government for the legal debacle. BJP state president N Indrasena Reddy, welcoming the judgment, said the Congress and the TDP, which promoted competitive appeasement, should apologise to the people for the fiasco.

TDP secretary Lal Jan Basha said the government did not make sincere efforts to help the Muslims, as was evident in the court judgment Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen MP Asaduddin Owaisi said his party would approach the apex court for justice.

The aborted move, which was aimed at benefiting 64 lakh Muslim population (1991 census) in the state, fulfilled a poll promise made by the Congress during the 2004 elections to the Assembly and the Parliament.

After the new addition, the reservation quota in the state had gone up to 51 per cent. A new category E was added for the Muslims to the existing A, B, C and D for reservation under the Backward Classes quota.