MP High Court strikes down 27% OBC reservation law

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has struck down a 2019 law that increased reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and education from 14 per cent to 27 per cent.

In a 159-page judgment, a division bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Vinay Saraf in Jabalpur declared the amendment unconstitutional. The court ruled that the state government failed to demonstrate any "extraordinary conditions or emergent situations" that would justify breaching the 50 per cent reservation ceiling established by the Supreme Court.

Job vacancies to be filled in three months

The decision has immediate consequences for state recruitment. The court ordered hiring authorities to fill the 13 per cent of government posts that have been frozen since September 2022 with unreserved candidates. These vacancies must be filled within three months based on existing selection lists.

However, the bench ruled that any appointments already made under the 27 per cent quota between March 2019 and September 2022 will remain secure.

Under an interim arrangement approved in September 2022, the state had been recruiting for 87 per cent of vacant positions while keeping the remaining 13 per cent on hold. Two separate merit lists—one for unreserved candidates and one for OBC candidates—were maintained for those frozen spots, waiting for a final ruling on the law.

Court says OBCs are 'part of the mainstream'

In its ruling, the bench pointed out that OBCs are already well-represented in Madhya Pradesh, describing them as "very much, part of the mainstream."

The judges highlighted government data showing that on top of their 14 per cent quota, OBC candidates regularly win about 20 per cent of seats in open competition, meaning they secure nearly half of the state's unreserved positions.

The court also noted that the state is politically dominated by the community. It observed that Madhya Pradesh has had four successive OBC chief ministers, and more than a quarter of its current MLAs and ministers belong to the category.

The 2019 amendment was passed during the brief 15-month Congress administration led by former Chief Minister Kamal Nath. Senior Advocate Aman Lekhi, representing the general-category petitioners, argued in court that the law was a case of "electoral opportunism" because it was enacted just a day before the election model code of conduct took effect for the 2019 general election.

BJP and Congress trade blame

The ruling has triggered an immediate political battle in a state where OBCs make up more than half of the population.

State Congress president Jitu Patwari accused the ruling BJP of conspiring against the community. He announced that his party would challenge the High Court's ruling in the Supreme Court to continue the fight for the 27 per cent quota. Meanwhile, J P Dhanopia, the former chairman of the State Backward Classes Commission, claimed the state government had deliberately presented a weak case in court.

The BJP, which has governed the state since 2003 with the exception of Congress's brief 15-month window, rejected the accusations. BJP state president Hemant Khandelwal said the Kamal Nath administration had drafted the 2019 law in haste without verifying key facts.

Khandelwal added that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav has already held meetings to review the judgment, insisting that the BJP remains committed to securing the 27 per cent reservation and will take all necessary legal steps to do so.