SC rejects TN appeal on Vanniyar quota against HC order

The Supreme Court on Thursday affirmed a high court order setting aside 10.5% sub-quota for Vanniyars from within the 20% reservation earmarked for the most backward classes and denotified communities in Tamil Nadu.

The Vanniyars are one of the most politically powerful backward communities in the state. Several attempts have been made to provide them a separate quota.

The Madras High Court had on Nov 1, 2021, declared a 2021 state Act providing quota to the community in jobs and admissions as unconstitutional. The state had appealed against the order .


An SC bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and BR Gavai upheld the High Court order: "There is no basis to treat Vanniyar as a separate group compared to others. Thus, the 2021 Act is ultra vires Articles 14 (equality) and 16 (equality of opportunity) of the Constitution."

The SC said caste alone cannot be the basis of providing such reservations. It has to do with caste plus backwardness.

The HC had faulted the Act on the grounds that there was no data to justify the quota. The HC had ruled that a sub-classification would be permissible only if "a class is far far backward than the advanced sections of that class".