The Supreme Court ruling stating that laws included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution after April 24, 1973, were open to judicial review, would remove the “blanket protection” provided to Tamil Nadu’s controversial 69 per cent reservation law.In 1994, the TN Backward Classes, Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes (Reservation of Seats in Educational Institutions and of Appointments or Posts in the Services under the State) Act, 1993, was included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution through the 76th Constitution Amendment. From August 31, 1994, the Act, listed as Entry 257-A in the Schedule, enjoys constitutional protection from challenge in court.Soon after the Act came into being, K M Vijayan, a senior advocate, who heads Voice, a consumer protection organisation, moved the Supreme Court, challenging its validity and the Amendment including it in the Ninth Schedule. Vijayan’s case is pending in the Supreme Court.“The blanket protection provided for the law under the Ninth Schedule has now been removed. The inclusion has now become redundant and it can be decided like any other ordinary law that violates fundamental rights without recourse to basic structure doctrine,’’ said Vijayan.In July 1994, under the AIADMK regime, he was brutally attacked by goons even as he set out in the early hours for the airport from home to catch a flight to Delhi to attend proceedings in his case.Tamil Nadu is among the few states in the country which enforces reservation in education and employment. The issue is rather an emotive one in the state, figuring prominently in every election campaign of political parties, which want to be seen as protectors of the interests of the Backward Classes.Soon after the Supreme Court (in the Mandal Case) held that the total reservation quantum should not exceed 50 per cent, the Tamil Nadu government enacted a special legislation to fix the total reservation percentage at 69—one per cent for Scheduled Tribes, 18 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 50 per cent for backward classes.While there has been no reaction from Karunanidhi yet, PMK leader Dr S Ramadoss, a UPA ally, has slammed the Supreme Court judgment as a “shocking ruling” by a Bench “headed by a Chief Justice who is due to retire in a couple of days”. He has demanded that Karunanidhi, convene a meeting of allies to discuss the issue.
