Supreme Court refused Union Government’s Appeal seeking Stay on Andhra Pradesh High Court Order

The Supreme Court of India on 11 June 2012 refused to entertain the Union Government’s petition seeking a stay on an Andhra Pradesh high court order which quashed a 4.5 per cent sub-quota for minorities in educational institutions and government jobs in the existing OBC quota.

The two-judge Supreme Court bench of Justices K.S.Radhakrishnan and J.S.Khehar refused to stay the Andhra Pradesh High Court order as it observed the government did not present any material to show how it had arrived at a figure of 4.5 percent reservation. As per the bench's directions the reports by the Union Government are to be produced on 13 June 2012.

The Congress-led UPA government on 22 December 2011, ahead of the key assembly polls in the five states including UP in February-March 2012, had announced the 4.5 per cent sub-quota for socially and educationally backward minority communities. It envisaged carving this sub-quota out of the existing 27 per cent quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs).

On 28 May 2012, an Andhra Pradesh High Court's division bench had struck down the government's sub-quota for minorities, and held that the Centre acted in a "casual manner". The High Court said that the government Office Memorandum (OM) creating the sub-quota was based on religious grounds and not on any other intelligible consideration.