The Madhya Pradesh High Court has ordered the state government and MP Public Service Commission (MPPSC) to ensure that reservation for students belonging to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) category does not exceed 14 per cent while declaring results of the PSC mains examination held in 2019.
In its order of Wednesday, uploaded on the HC website on Thursday, the court disallowed 27% reservation for OBC candidates. In the interim order, the two-member bench of Chief Justice Ravi Malimuth and Justice Maninder Singh Bhatti observed, “Respondents are directed to ensure that reservation for OBC category shall not be more than 14% while declaring the results of MP Public Service Commission State Service Main Examination 2019.”
The court made the observation while hearing a petition by Niharika Tripathi, a general category student who had appeared for MPPSC mains in 2019.
The bench made the observations while referring to its earlier interim order passed on March 19, 2019, in which it had restricted reservation for OBC category to 14% for postgraduate admissions in medical colleges. It was hearing a petition filed by MBBS students who were appearing for NEET-PG.
The petitioners had challenged the March 8 ordinance passed by the then Kamal Nath government, which had increased reservation for OBC from 14% to 27% in the state.
Aditya Sanghi, counsel for petitioners Ashita Dubey and others, cited that besides 27% reservation for OBCs, 20% reservation for Schedule Castes and another 16% reservation for Scheduled Tribes candidates is already prescribed under the law. As a result, Sanghi submitted, “the statutorily prescribed reservation has gone up to 63% which is constitutionally impermissible.”
In an interim order on March 19, 2019, a two-member bench had given a week’s time to the state to respond to its notice. It had said, “…In the meanwhile, it is directed that the respondents shall not provide reservation of more than 14% for OBC category…” The final hearing on these petitions is expected to come up in March.
