On Monday, the law that provided 10.5 per cent internal reservation for Vanniyars was struck down by a Madras High Court bench of Madurai. The bench asked that whether caste could be taken into consideration for reservation.
The legislation, which provided 10.5 per cent reservation to Vanniyars, was passed by K Palaniswami, previously heading the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam ( AIADMK) just before the 2021 Assembly Election’s model code of conduct was announced. This legislation was implemented later by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government.
A 10.5 per cent of reservations out of the total 20 per cent reservation for Most Backward Classes (MBC) were allotted to the Vanniyars. This led to a number of cases being registered against the 10.5 per cent reservation for Vanniyars.
The petitions were filed implying that the reservation of 10.5 per cent for the Vannikkula Kshatriyas (Vanniyars) out of 20 per cent for Most Backward Classes (MBC) would adversely affect many other communities which come under MBC and Denotified Communities.
The 10.5 per cent reservation legislation has been now set aside by the court. It was observed by the Justices Murali Shankar and Duraiswamy that to grant reservation on the basis of caste without proper caste-based population data was unconstitutional.
The founder of Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK), S Ramadoss, said that the court’s order was shocking and that this reservation was secured after many struggles.
The influential Vanniyar Community leader stated that an appeal should be filed against the court’s decision immediately as the reservation has led many students to get admitted and several others are being offered jobs.