Author: Press Trust of India
Publication: The Statesman
Date: July 2, 2010
URL: http://www.thestatesman.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=333238&catid=42
Calcutta High Court today declared as unconstitutional
reservation on religious grounds while allotting flats built by a government
agency. A Division Bench of Chief Justice Mr JN Patel and Mr Justice B Bhattacharjee
held that there was no provision for reservation on religious grounds in the
Constitution on hearing a PIL.
On 10 March, Kolkata Metropolitan Development
Authority (KMDA), a West Bengal government agency, had floated an advertisement
for sale of nearly 300 flats at Baishnabghata on the southern outskirts of
the city. The brochure said there would be 26 per cent reservation in allotment
of the flats for religious minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Sikhs,
Parsis, etc. Challenging this, the petitioners' counsel, Mr Kaushik Chanda,
submitted that the Constitution had no provision for reservation on religious
grounds and that the secular nature of the government would be affected if
such reservations were made.
KMDA counsel Mr Soumitra Basu submitted that
the government agency would be guided by the High Court and abide by its decision.
Hearing both parties, the Division Bench passed the order declaring such allotments
illegal and asked KMDA to issue fresh advertisements for selling the flats.
