Fresh court date, quota still on hold

Chetan Chauhan, Satya Prakash and Mou Chakraborty
New Delhi/Kolkata, April 24, 2007

THE SUSPENSE over IIM admissions remained on Tuesday as the HRD ministry did not withdraw the directive asking IIMs and IITs to keep admissions on hold. HRD minister Arjun Singh said the directive would stand and added, “I don’t think any fresh directive is required.”
Since Monday, when the Supreme Court declined to lift the stay on the OBC quota, it has looked unlikely that the quota can be introduced from this session. On May 8, the Supreme Court will conduct a hearing on the constitutional validity of the law passed by the Centre.
The hearing was fixed by the Chief Justice of India. Attorney general Milon K. Banerjee mentioned the Centre’s application for an early hearing, while the anti-quota camp protested. The CJI asserted that it was his prerogative to decide in what manner a case had to be heard. Fixing the date, the CJI asked the parties to complete all formalities by then.
The hearing is, however, expected to drag as indications are that the matter will ultimately go to a constitution bench. The Centre had submitted that the case involved complicated legal issues that should be decided by a constitution bench. Once the matter goes to such a bench, the Centre can again seek lifting of the stay, but time is the crucial factor.
As the stalemate lingered, IIM candidates fretted about their future. “Even after the Supreme Court order, the ministry is pursuing its agenda,” said Sourav Sen, who scored 99.49 percent in CAT.
Ashish Bhattacharya, chairman of admissions at IIM-C, said, “We cannot publish the result unless the Centre tells us to do so. We have informed the ministry about the problem of the students.”
Arjun Singh said all IIMs were cooperating. He reminded them they were government institutions and not private institutions — and autonomous bodies but not independent.
Arjun continued to defend the quota. On the court’s observation that the government was rushing through the implementation when it has waited for 57 years, he snapped: “I am not getting any out of this. It was Parliament’s decision to give OBCs reservation.”
chetan@hindustantimes.com
satya.prakash@hindustantimes.com
mou.Chakraborty@yahoo.com