Vanniyar quota: Social justice will be upheld, says Stalin

In the question hour at Assembly on Thursday, Leader of Opposition Edappadi Palanisamy requested Speaker M Appavu to grant him some time to address the reservation for the Vanniyar community.

"The AIADMK has legislated 10.5 per cent reservation on the basis of fulfilling the demands of the Vanniyar people who have been fighting for reservation for many years. The government passed a resolution, following that, some went to court and appealed a plea against this special quota. The plaintiff should have had senior counsel in the Madurai High Court branch, had we done so we would have had a favourable verdict. The judge said that the government did not provide proper information and documents. Based on this, the case went to the Supreme Court. A fair verdict would have been available if the government had fully submitted the documents to the court," he said.

Replying to this, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister MK Stalin said, "The government has vigorously argued in cases filed in the High Court and the Supreme Court over a law providing for a special quota of 10.5 per cent for the Vanniyar community. Senior advocates Rakesh Dwivedi, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Mukul Rothaki and Wilson have argued in the Supreme Court on behalf of various departments of the Tamil Nadu government. The Supreme Court has noted that the actions of the government of Tamil Nadu and its lawyers in filing written arguments and recording the necessary documents, in this case, are highly commendable."

"When we brought in the 7.5 per cent quota for government school students, whatever data we formalised with, we will certainly maintain the same in this regard. The Supreme Court has clearly stated in its judgment that the power to do so rests with this Assembly and the State Government," he said.