Journalism of Courage
The Supreme Court has agreed to give an open-court hearing to the Centre,which has sought a review of its verdict against reservation in appointment of faculty in specialty and super-specialty courses in engineering and medical colleges,including those at AIIMS.
A five-judge Bench led by Justice H L Dattu,which had taken up Centres review plea in chamber,directed that the matter be listed in court. Review petitions are usually decided in the judges chambers.
Asserting that there was no constitutional prohibition for the Centre to make reservation policies,the government has asked for a reconsideration of the courts July 18 verdict by a five-judge Constitutional bench led by then Chief Justice Altamas Kabir. It had endorsed the views expressed in 1992 by a nine-judge Constitutional Bench in the Indra Sawhney case,popularly known as the Mandal case,and said there had to be certain cases where merit alone would count. The verdict emphasised that the very concept of reservation implies mediocrity.
Challenging the courts views,the Centre claimed the judgment went against the mandate of the Mandal judgment,which did not prohibit reservation of posts in any particular service or posts or hierarchy and left it to the government to formulate its policy.
It also questioned how the SC could rely on stray observations against reservation in the Mandal case. It is not a decision of the court and it is not a direction of the court, said the government,adding it could not be considered as binding on the five-judge bench in this case.
