New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday, February 23, sought details of backward communities among Muslims while hearing a plea seeking quota in jobs and admissions under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category for ‘Pasmanda Muslims’.
“What about the other Muslim OBCs? The OBC is not only a social status factor, but an economic factor is also there,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi asked senior advocate Anjana Prakash, who was representing petitioner Mohd Waseem Saifi.
The Public Interest Litigation (PIL) sought a 10 per cent quota for Pasmanda Muslims by sub-categorising the OBCs in terms of the Ranganath Misra Commission report.
The bench said it has to consider whether Pasmandas are statistically the only backward classes.
“At the cost of other poor Muslims, you only want to promote Pasmandas…. Where is the homework on how many total muslims are backward?” the CJI asked.
Senior lawyer Anjana Prakash said that she will file a note in response to the queries. The bench then ordered relisting of the plea after four weeks.
Prakash, at the outset, urged the bench to tag the PIL with another pending case relating to the issue of whether Muslims in Andhra Pradesh can be given four per cent reservation under the socially and educationally backwards classes.
The senior lawyer said that ‘Pasmanda’ Muslims are poor and deserve to be granted quota benefits under the OBC category.
A constitution bench is considering the appeal of the state government against the 2005 decision of the Andhra Pradesh High Court.
It had struck down the Andhra Pradesh Reservation of Seats in the Educational Institutions and of appointments/posts in the Public Services under the State to Muslim Community Act, 2005.
