Date:18/11/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/11/18/stories/2008111855561100.htm

National

In IITs, general students denied seats in OBC vacancies: petition

J. Venkatesan

Creamy layer income ceiling has been raised with retrospective effect

Constitution Bench asks Centre to file response to the allegation
Denial of admission to petitioner means violation of October 14 apex court order: counsel

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought the Centre’s response to the allegation that OBC vacancies in Indian Institutes of Technology had not been filled up by general category candidates as per its directions and that the creamy layer concept was applied retrospectively to deny such admissions.

A Constitution Bench, consisting of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justices Arijit Pasayat, Altamas Kabir, R.V. Raveendran and Dalveer Bhandari is hearing a petition filed by a general category student, Vishwarath Reddy of Andhra Pradesh, alleging that he was not given admission in vacant OBC seats despite the October 14 court directions.

Clear directive

Acting on a petition from P.V. Indiresan, the court that day made it clear that all vacant OBC seats in IITs and other central institutions must be filled by general category students and not a single seat should remain vacant.

Counsel K.V. Viswanathan said denial of admission to Mr. Reddy meant violation of the October 14 order. He alleged that admission was denied because the income ceiling for the creamy layer was raised from Rs. 2.50 lakh to 4.50 lakh with retrospective effect so that only OBCs could be enrolled in the vacant seats.

The Bench asked Solicitor-General G.E. Vahanvati to respond to the petition and file an affidavit.

“Political motive”

In his petition, Mr. Reddy said an office memorandum, issued on October 13, said the income ceiling was being raised to Rs. 4.50 lakh for purposes of determination of the creamy layer for admission of OBC candidates.

The Centre, out of political motives, was diluting academic standards and depriving admission to genuine students like him, Mr. Reddy said and pleaded for a direction to admit him to an IIT in a vacant OBC seat.