Hyderabad: The Andhra Pradesh High Court in an interim order today (July 22, 2004) suspended the operation of the State Government order, extending five per cent reservation for minorities in education and employment.

The Chief Justice Devender Gupta and Justice C V Ramulu, after hearing a batch of writ petitions challenging the validity of the order, suspended the order 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 final hearing of the case.

One of the counsel of petitioners D V Seetharam Murthy told media persons after the order that "We have contended before the court that the State Government has not undertaken required exercise before issuing the order."

The Government also did not consult the Andhra Pradesh Backward Class Commission, which is the competent authority to include any case in backward list, he added.

The NTR Health University yesterday (July 21,2004) 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.