Legislature, judiciary spat brews over quota

NEW DELHI: After the Supreme Court's stay on OBC law touched off a confrontation between legislature and judiciary a year ago, its decision to exclude "creamy layer" from the quota ambit has again rattled the nerves of backward satraps just as Parliament is set to resume after recess. Whether the lawmakers would have the stomach to challenge the judiciary again remains to be seen as the Centre tries to manage the anger among backward MPs against the apex court. The "legislature vs judiciary" tiff then had touched a level that experts and government functionaries had to intervene to counsel calm and remind them to work in harmony. Centre is wary of MPs targeting judiciary, with a general feeling in Congress that the verdict is good enough after the trouble of the last one year. While it is felt the creamy layer is here to stay, partymen say a campaign from OBC satraps of UPA — like PMK of Ramadoss — would put Congress in the political no man's land. The party feels the Centre cannot alter the verdict until the Indira Sawhney judgment in Mandal Commission is reviewed, as the five-judge Bench order in OBC education quota law is bound by Indira Sawhney order of nine judges. As a revisit to Sawhney is out of sight, it feels the best case scenario is that allies accept the verdict without much noise. Additionally, it has no control over belligerent leaders from the Opposition camp. JD(U) president Sharad Yadav has called the view on "creamy layer" as "unjustified and deplorable", saying that it had denied adequate share to OBCs in government jobs. He said it was against the spirit of the Constitution and demanded a joint parliamentary committee to review implementation of the OBC quota in the last 14 years. With the privilege of an Opposition party, there is no mistaking that JD(U) would try to score political points over Congress, compelling Lalu Prasad of RJD to take a tougher position for a message to his Bihar constituency. A joint demand from UPA and NDA allies over creamy layer could only discomfit Congress. There is a feeling in the party that any stress on OBC quota would stoke anger among its upper caste, middle-class support base. The apprehension was behind Congress doing a balancing act when protests broke out against the quota law. It is all low key. Congress is happy putting on record its elation over the apex court order, with party spokesman Manish Tiwari calling it an evidence of its century-old commitment to social justice and social inclusiveness. But Tiwari did not mind balancing Congress's commitment to backward classes with that towards poor among upper castes, for whom BSP chief Mayawati has sought reservation in a bid to score politically over rivals. Tiwari said Congress had taken a lead to amend the 1993 memorandum to extend quota to poor among upper castes but it was struck down by the Supreme Court.
THE TIMES OF INDIA;12 Apr 2008, 0032 hrs IST , TNN