The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday struck down the Reservations for minorities provided by the state Government in educational institutions. Stating that the reservation on the basis of religion is against the spirit of the Constitution, a Constitutional Bench headed by A R Dave has struck down the 4% Reservations provided to the minorities in Andhra Pradesh.The state Government has been providing reservations to back ward Muslims in educational institutions. The bench said the state Government had not taken the decision on the basis of realistic studies and said a proper study had not been done and sufficient data was not collected before providing Reservations on the basis of religion. Among the 7 judges, one judge reportedly abstained opinion and another gave opinion in favour of the reservations.The 4% reservations had been implemented by the state government initially by an ordinance which was struck down by a 5-memebr divisional bench at the High Court. When the State Government appealed in the Supreme Court, the apex court ruled that the matter be sorted out at the High Court.