PMK founder S Ramadoss has cried foul over the Supreme Court’s judgement striking down reservations in faculty posts for speciality and super speciality courses at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS). He said the apex court had been in a hurry to pass the judgment, and charged that groups fighting against quotas had used back door methods to secure the judgement.
A five-judge Constitution bench headed by Altamas Kabir, then Chief Justice of India, on the last day of his tenure on Thursday, had unanimously ruled against a judgement passed by the Delhi High Court. The bench had reasoned that it could not contradict views expressed by the SC in the controversial Indra Sawhney case, in 1992. The SC had then said that merit would be the only criteria for appointments to certain posts.
Ramadoss hit out at the judgement in a statement, suggesting that political pressures had been behind it. “The SC failed to attach enough importance to this critical case. It instead acted on the pretext of the retirement of Justice Altamas Kabir. The judgement is akin to burying social justice,” he said. Ramadoss added that the AIIMS administration had a history of opposing reservation, and charged that when it failed at finding legal recourse against quotas it leaned on those in power to achieve its goals.
“This judgement will lead to the cancellation of reservation for teaching staff not just at AIIMS, but other medical, engineering colleges, Central and State universities,” said Ramadoss.