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Tamil Nadu parties angry over court verdict on Ninth Schedule
Jan 12, 2007 - 9:13:43 PM
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Jayalalitha claimed that she had predicted the central government's lukewarm attitude towards the issue two months ago. 'Attorney General Milon Bannerjee had abstained from appearing in the court when the bench was adjudicating a public interest litigation challenging the immunity given under the Ninth Schedule,' she said.
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By IANS,
[RxPG] Chennai, Jan 12 - Political parties in Tamil Nadu Friday reacted angrily to the Supreme Court verdict shooting down a blanket protection from judicial review of laws included in the Ninth Schedule, saying it posed danger to the 69 percent quota given in the state in educational institutions and government jobs.
Even as Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi indicated that his band of social justice activists would shed blood to defend the existing quota system, the opposition AIADMK demanded his resignation for failing to effectively defend the immunity enjoyed by the existing quota from judicial review.
A nine-judge bench of the apex court, giving the verdict Thursday, said each law incorporated in the Ninth Schedule after 1973 could be tested for its validity, to see if it breached fundamental rights or interfered with any basic feature of the constitution.
The erstwhile AIADMK regime had included the Tamil Nadu Reservation Act of 1993 into the Ninth Schedule in 1994. Patting herself on the back for this achievement, former chief minister and AIADMK chief J. Jayalalitha said in a statement here that despite her party striving hard to provide constitutional protection to reservation, the DMK government had 'betrayed' the interests of Tamils by failing to defend its position before the court effectively.
Jayalalitha accused Karunanidhi of supporting the Congress government's 'two-faced' stand on the issue, and demanded that the chief minister 'should own moral responsibility and step down for having blatantly betrayed the interests of Tamils'.
Karunanidhi expressed himself in a question-and-answer format in his party organ 'Murasoli', decrying the apex court ruling.
He told his supporters that they needn't fear the repercussions arising out of the latest ruling.
'Even if our tears run dry, there is enough blood to be shed among the army of social justice supporters created by great leaders like Periyar -, Anna - and Kamaraj -,' Karunanidhi said.
PMK founder S. Ramadoss saw the development as a threat to democracy and social justice. He exhorted the central and the state government to take immediate steps to ensure that there was no danger to the 69 percent quota norm in Tamil Nadu. He said the prime minister should convene a meeting of chief ministers to elicit their views on how to protect laws included in the Ninth Schedule.
Jayalalitha claimed that she had predicted the central government's lukewarm attitude towards the issue two months ago. 'Attorney General Milon Bannerjee had abstained from appearing in the court when the bench was adjudicating a public interest litigation challenging the immunity given under the Ninth Schedule,' she said.
MDMK general secretary Vaiko pointed out that the centre had failed to uphold the rights of the people before the court. He blamed the DMK regime for failing in its duty to bestow adequate attention on the issue and put forward its case effectively.
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