Observing that there is no substantial basis for classifying the Vanniakula Kshatriyas differentially, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down the 10.5 per cent reservation provided to Vanniyars, a Most Backward Community (MBC) in Tamil Nadu,in government jobs and admission to educational institutions.
A bench comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao and B R Gavai said population has been made the sole basis for recommending internal reservation for the Vanniakula Kshatriyas, which is directly in the teeth of the law laid down by this court.
"We are of the opinion that there is no substantial basis for classifying the Vanniakula Kshatriyas into one group to be treated differentially from the remaining 115 communities within the MBCs and Denotified Communities, and therefore, the 2021 Act is in violation of Articles 14, 15 and 16.
We uphold the judgment of the High Court on this aspect," the bench said.