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Court: No 27% quota this year New Delhi, April 23: The OBC quota will not be implemented this year as the Supreme Court on Monday rejected the Centre's application to vacate the stay on the implementation of the 27 per cent quota in elite Central educational institutions. With the country's highest court putting the brakes on the government's plans, the IIMs said that they will be announcing their admission list following a government notification. The court reiterated on Monday that its March 29 order was "final", and not an interim one as perceived by the government, and rejected the arguments put forward by the Centre for lack of new information. The IIMs, which had put their results on hold following an order from the HRD ministry last week, said on Monday that a date for announcing its admissions lists would be taken after a communication is received from the ministry. "We are hoping that the next information from the government will be very soon. The six directors will meet and then decide on the next step. We have always taken unanimous decisions all along and will do so this time too," IIM Ahmedabad director Bakul Dholakia said in response to the court's order. The only good news for the Centre on Monday was the decision of the two-judge bench, of Justices Arijit Pasayat and L.S. Panta, to examine the Centre's request for referring the matter to a Constitution Bench, which will be taken up in August. The Centre's insistence on implementing the quota from this year came in for questioning by the court, which asked why the government wanted to rush through the implementation. "You had waited for 57 years. Why can't you wait for one more year," Justice Pasayat asked. [Official sources indicated late on Monday night that the government was planning to approach the Chief Justice of India, Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, for expeditious hearing of the case, reports PTI.] It was argued by the government that the quota would not affect general category seats in any way, but the court was not convinced and quoted a sub-section of the Act which contained a provision wherein the Centre was empowered to exempt any of the educational institutions from implementing the quota for one reason or other. "The government rule cannot stand on better footing than the Supreme Court of the country, which [derives] its powers from the Constitution," the bench said. In its March 29 order, the two-member bench had stayed Section 6 of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admissions) Act insofar as it related to the 27 per cent quota for OBCs in institutions like IITs, IIMs and Central universities. The bench then had fixed the first week of August for hearing the constitutional validity of the law. Universities and institutes that have been waiting for the court's order refused to comment officially till a government notification reached them, but indicated that they would go ahead with their admission process in view of the order. The IIMs, which are currently running behind schedule, said they were hoping to make up for lost time provided the Centre sends a notification in time. IIM Ahmedabad director Bakul Dholakia said the time period for students to accept offer letters may be reduced to reduce the delay. The Central universities, however, were not as sure. Although it is clear that the OBC reservations will not happen this year, Delhi University officials said they are hoping to go ahead with their expansion plans to improve infrastructure. "It will depend on what the government decides on. But as far as expansion plans are concerned, we would like to go ahead as it is much needed in any case," a senior official said. HRD ministry sources said, meanwhile, that the government was exploring all legal options in the wake of the court's ruling. "All legal options are being looked into," they said within hours of the verdict, adding that senior officials of the ministry were consulting solicitor-general G.E. Vahanvati on what steps to take next. Asked if any fresh directive would be issued to the IIMs, which had earlier been told to keep their admissions process on hold, the ministry sources said: "We will them shortly. We also do not want to inconvenience the students."
