Andhra Pradesh HC suspends 5% quota for Muslims

The Andhra Pradesh High Court in an interim order on Thursday suspended the operation of the state government order, extending five per cent reservation for minorities in education and employment.

Chief Justice Devender Gupta and Justice C V Ramulu, after hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging the validity of the order, suspended it and referred the case to a full bench of three judges, observing that it needed a deeper examination.

The case will come up on July 27.

While suspending the order, the court directed the professional educational institutions not to fill up the five per cent quota reserved for minorities till the final hearing of the case.

One of the counsel of petitioners D V Seetharam Murthy told mediapersons after the order: "We have contended before the court that the state government has not undertaken the required exercise before issuing the order."

The NTR Health University yesterday in a notification had asked the students of Muslim community to apply for the seats in medical colleges in the light of the reservation order which was challenged in the court by a section of the aggrieved students.