The Madhya Pradesh High Court (Jabalpur) has given a historic and final verdict on the much-discussed legal dispute that has been going on for the last several years regarding Other Backward Class (OBC) reservation in Madhya Pradesh. The division bench of the High Court has rejected the amended law of 2019 giving 27 percent reservation to the OBC category in the state, terming it as unconstitutional. The court has clarified that the same applies to the OBC category in the state. 14 percent reservation Will remain effective. Along with this, the court has given strict instructions to the state government to fill 13 percent posts which have been kept on hold for years due to reservation dispute, with unreserved category candidates within the next 3 months.
The then Kamal Nath government in Madhya Pradesh had decided to increase the OBC reservation from 14% to 27% by passing an ordinance and later an Act in 2019. Many petitions were filed in the High Court challenging this decision.
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Quoting Indira Sawhney judgement: The petitions argued that if 27% reservation is given to OBCs, the total reservation in the state including SC (16%), ST (20%) and EWS (10%) reaches 63% to 73%. This is a direct violation of the maximum reservation limit of 50 percent set by the Supreme Court in the case ‘Indira Sawhney vs. Union of India’.
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Lack of Quantifiable Data: The court held that the state government failed to prove extraordinary circumstances and sufficient empirical data necessary to grant reservation beyond the 50% limit.
Due to the OBC reservation controversy, dozens of recruitment processes of Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) and Staff Selection Board (ESB) were stuck in limbo for years. The government had implemented the 87-13 formula, under which results for 87% of the posts were declared and the results of the disputed 13% posts were kept on hold.
In its decision, the High Court has given clear instructions to the state government and recruitment agencies that:
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OBC category should be given reservation within the legal limit of 14 percent.
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The 13 percent posts which were kept on hold due to reservation dispute, will be filled from the candidates of unreserved (general merit) category. within 3 months Be filled.
After this decision of the High Court, political turmoil has intensified in the politics of Madhya Pradesh. While the decision will provide relief to the candidates of long pending recruitment, OBC organizations and opposition parties are preparing to challenge it in the Supreme Court. The state government is also considering the options of filing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the apex court after discussing with legal experts.