Bengaluru:Veteran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge on Sunday demanded that the union government either file a review petition in the Supreme Court or amend the constitution to make reservation a fundamental right in the wake of the recent apex court order.
"At least now the Government of India should wake up. They can either take up this matter and amend the Constitution related to Article 16(4)(b) or (c) after consulting the law department or file a review petition, asking that a constitutional bench should hear the case," Kharge said at a press conference at the Congress office here.
Kharge said his party would raise the matter inside and outside Parliament.
The Supreme Court had said that states are not bound to provide reservation in appointments and there is no fundamental right to claim quota in promotions.
The apex court said this while dealing with pleas on the Uttarakhand government's September 5, 2012 decision to fill up all posts in public services in the state without providing reservations to Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes.
The Congress leader claimed that a constitutional matter should not have been heard by a two-judge bench of the Supreme Court, but the full constitutional bench.
"It is a constitutional matter and only two people have given a judgement, which will have an impact from Kanyakumari to Kashmir and Calcutta to Ahmedabad," the former union
Minister said.