Senior Counsel K K Venugopal appearing before the Supreme Court on Wednesday said that 27 per cent reservation for the OBC in elite educational institutions violates the basic structure of the Constitution.

Venugopal representing the Resident Doctors’ Association told the five-judge constitution bench headed by Chief Justice K G Balakrishnan that by providing reservation up to 49.5 per cent, the Government would be depriving rightful privilege of the minority communities.

“Caste-based reservation provided is confined only to the Hindus, while other communities despite being poor and underprivileged are deprived of the benefits,” he said.

‘Arrest casteism’
Additional Solicitor General K Parasaran appearing for the Government intervened and said that the evils of caste system could be eliminated if people were given access to higher education.

By providing reservation for the OBC, SC and ST communities, the Government wanted to improve the economic conditions of the people, he said.

The Court observed that India has already more than 5,000 castes and it might increase. “The evils of the caste system should go,”the bench said.

The Court was hearing a bunch of petitions seeking direction to the Government not to implement the 27 per cent reservation for the OBC communities in the higher educational institutions.