NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday sought details of backward communities among Muslims while hearing a plea seeking quota for jobs and admission under the Other Backward Classes category for ‘Pasmanda Muslims’.
“What about other CSOs? CSO is not only a factor of social status but also an existing economic factor,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalia Bagchi asked senior advocate Anjana Prakash, who was representing the petitioner Muhammad Waseem Saifi.
The PIL sought a 10 per cent quota for Pasmanda Muslims by sub-classifying OBCs as per the Ranganath Misra Committee report.
The bench said it had to consider whether the Pasmandas were the only backward classes statistically.
The ICJ asked: “At the expense of other poor Muslims, you just want to promote Pasmundas… Where is the homework on the number of backward Muslims?”
Lawyer Anjana Prakash said she would file a memorandum in response to the queries. The court then ordered the petition to be re-enlisted four weeks later.
Initially, Prakash urged the bench to place the PIL among another pending case on the question of whether Muslims in Andhra Pradesh can be given four per cent reservation under socially and educationally backward classes.
The senior advocate said that Pasmanda Muslims are poor and deserve to get quota benefits under the OBC category.
A constitutional bench is hearing an appeal filed by the state government against a 2005 Andhra Pradesh High Court decision.
It has abolished reservation of seats in Andhra Pradesh in educational institutions and appointments/posts in public services under the state Muslim Community Act, 2005.
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