New Delhi:
The Supreme Court on Friday agreed to urgently list a petition seeking implementation of 27% reservation quota for Other Backward Classes or OBC communities in Madhya Pradesh.
A partial working day bench of Justices Ujjal Bhuyan and Manmohan agreed to hear next week the plea mentioned in court today.
The petition moved by members of the OBC community in the state seeks implementation of a law passed by the legislative assembly of Madhya Pradesh in 2019, which increased the OBC quota from 14% to 27%.
The plea states the state government has been denying benefit of increased quota for the OBCs based on the stay given to an MBBS student for a postgraduate medical entrance test by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
Earlier, the Congress had accused the BJP-led Madhya Pradesh government of deliberately not implementing the law (which increased OBC quota from 14 to 27%) passed by the Congress government in 2019, citing “legal hurdle”.
An ordinance was brought by the erstwhile Congress government on March 8, 2019, seeking to increase the OBC quota in jobs and admissions in educational institutions to 27 per cent from 14 per cent.
However, the same was challenged by the MBBS student.
The Madhya Pradesh High Court stayed the implementation of the ordinance for the entrance test of the postgraduate medical exam.
However, in July 2019, the state assembly passed legislation to replace the ordinance.
The petition moved by members of OBC community in the state, claims that despite Madhya Pradesh having 50% OBC population, the reservation quota remains only 14%.
The plea further says that Madhya Pradesh government arbitrarily failed to implement the Act to extend the benefit of the said amendment in nearly all recruitment processes.
What Happened Before 2019
Before 2019, Madhya Pradesh had reservation of 14 per cent for the OBC, 20 per cent for ST, and 16 per cent for SC, totalling 50 per cent.
The enhanced OBC quota has raised total reservation to 63 per cent, breaching the 50 per cent quota ceiling.
On March 19, 2019, the High Court stayed the increased 13 per cent more OBC reservation, which led to the suspension of many recruitment processes. Later, a formula which included 87 per cent existing reservations plus 13 per cent reserved was introduced to continue exams while holding the disputed 13 per cent seats separately until a final verdict.
In 2024, all pending petitions regarding OBC reservation hike (around 70 in total) were transferred from the High Court to the Supreme Court. Till the final decision is made, recruitments are continuing based on the 87:13 formula.
This law was neither challenged in any court nor was any stay granted by the court on its implementation, the plea argues.
“It is respectfully submitted that the said legislation has neither been struck down nor declared unconstitutional by any court of law. In fact, no interim order has been passed by this court or High Court of Madhya Pradesh for restraining the enforcement of the law,” states the
petition.
The plea further states that the enforcement of the law is restrained only on the basis of legal opinion of the office of Advocate General of Madhya Pradesh by the executive and pending litigation before court. However, the plea argues that there is a presumption of constitutionality in laws passed by the state assembly, and such laws must be implemented even if they are facing challenges in court.
