Karnataka stand on SC order on weightage

By Our Special Correspondent

BANGALORE, NOV. 28. The State Government, which received a rebuff from the Supreme Court in the rural weightage case, has taken the stand that Monday's order of the court is applicable only to the parties in the case.

It is also considering moving the Centre to amend the Constitution to provide for weightage to rural candidates in employment and education.

The Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs, Mr. D. B. Chandre Gowda, told presspersons today that the Government was studying the Supreme Court's order. It would hold discussions with the Advocate-General, Mr. A. N. Jayaram.

However, the minister expressed his personal opinion that the order would apply only to the 36 petitioners who had challenged the rural weightage rule before the Supreme Court and it was not general in nature.

To a question, Mr. Gowda said the Government would not relieve from service the 13,000 employees recruited under the rural weightage scheme.

When it was brought to his notice that the Karnataka High Court had relieved 26 munsiff-magistrates who were appointed on the basis of rural weightage, Mr. Gowda replied it was wrong.

It was for the Government, which was the appointing authority in respect of judicial officers, to do so.

The Minister said the Government was in touch with the MPs from the State to take up the question of an amendment to the Constitution with the Government of India.

He noted how the first amendment to the Constitution was carried out in 1951 (by the interim Parliament) providing for reservation for Backward Classes in the field of education (Article 1640) annulling a judgment of the Madras High Court (Champakam Dorairajan Vs. State of Madras, judgment of Chief Justice P. V. Rajamannar and Justice Vishwanathan Iyer). Some other Constitutional amendments were carried out in similar circumstances.

Mr. Gowda added that the Government wanted the total percentage of reservation (for SCs, STs, OBCs and rural candidates) to remain within the 50 per cent limit laid down by the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case. As it would be ``horizontal reservation,'' the 50 per cent limit would not be exceeded.

Also, Mr. Justice G. B. Pattanaik and Mr. Justice N. Santosh Hegde dismissed revision petitions from the State Government and the Karnataka State Government Employees' Association seeking a review of the court's October 11 judgment (Mr. Justice Pattanaik and Ms. Justice Ruma Pal) in the case of Sridhara S. Vs. State of Karnataka and others.

The court upheld the judgment of a Division Bench of the Karnataka High Court quashing the rural weightage rule.

In the process, it set aside the directions of the Division Bench of the High Court protecting the appointments made to government departments during the pendency of the appeal before it (Division Bench).

Our Staff Reporter adds:

The President of the Karnataka State Government Employees' Association, Mr. Sippegowda, maintained today that the Supreme Court's rejection of the State's review petition would not affect the 13,000 employees recruited between 1998 and 2000 under the scheme.

It applied only to the 36 persons whose appointments on the basis of rural weightage were challenged in the court.

He told presspersons here that those selected on the basis of rural weightage would not lose their jobs.

Quoting the judgment, he said the order clearly mentioned that the ``judgment of the court would bind the parties in the proceedings'' and not the others.

The association urged the Government not to take any action against the 13,000 employees and allow them to continue in service.

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Section  : Southern States
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