KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has stayed the order of the state government to include Nadars belonging to Christian religious denominations other than SIUC (South Indian United Church) in the list of socially and educationally backward classes for the purpose of providing employment and educational benefits.
The Pinarayi government had issued the order on February 6, 2021, two months before the assembly elections. The opposition parties had alleged that the move was to placate these communities ahead of the elections.
Justice PB Suresh Kumar issued the order on the petition filed by S Kuttappan Chettiar of Thiruvananthapuram and Akshay S Chandran of Kottayam challenging the order.
The petitioners argued that in the light of the provision contained in Article 342-A introduced to the Constitution in terms of the 102nd Amendment with effect from August 15, 2018, the State Government is denuded of the power to specify any class of persons as socially and educationally backward for the purposes of the Constitution. It is for the President of India to make such specifications, and the order was unconstitutional, being violative of Article 342-A.
Advocate General did not dispute the fact that in the light of the 102nd amendment to the Constitution and the Supreme Court judgment in Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil case, it is for the President to specify the socially and educationally backward classes in relation to a State.
The court held that the petitioners have made out a prima facie case for an interim order and in the circumstances, the order will remain stayed.