New Delhi:In a significant development, the Supreme Court Friday stayed the proceedings before the Kerala High Court on a plea challenging the Centre's decision to grant 10 per cent reservation in jobs and admissions to candidates of the economically weaker sections (EWS).
A bench comprising Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli also issued notice on the plea filed by the Centre seeking transfer of the case from the high court to the apex court which had earlier referred to the similar case for adjudication to a five-judge Constitution bench.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta appeared for the Centre and sought stay on the proceedings before the high court besides a notice to Nujaim PK who had filed the PIL there.
The plea said: "The present transfer petition is being filed...under Article '139A (1) of the Constitution, seeking the transfer of Civil Writ Petition No.-23872 of 2020 titled as Nujaim P.K. Vs. Union of India 85. Ors, pending before the High Court of Kerala at Ernakulam, to this Court...
"Writ Petition involves an identical question of law to one pending before this Court, whether the Constitution (One Hundred and Third Amendment) Act, 2019 violates the basic structure of the Constitution of India and is against the basic principle of the constitution".
The transfer of the aforesaid writ petition would enable all these cases to be clubbed and heard together and avoid possibility of inconsistent orders being passed by different courts, it said.