The Supreme Court has asked the Madhya Pradesh government to respond by July 4 on implementing the 27% OBC reservation law passed in 2019. Petitioners claim the state is denying benefits despite nearly 50% OBC population.
New Delhi: Today, on June 25, the Supreme Court has directed the Madhya Pradesh government to file its reply by July 4 in response to a petition demanding the implementation of 27% reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in the state.
The petitioners, members of the OBC community, have urged the Court to enforce a law passed in 2019 by the Madhya Pradesh Assembly, which had raised the OBC reservation from 14% to 27% in public employment and educational institutions.
The plea highlights that despite the law being passed, the increased quota has not yet been implemented, allegedly because of a stay granted by the Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The stay had come after an MBBS student challenged the ordinance, specifically concerning postgraduate medical entrance exams.
According to the petitioners,
“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.”
The issue of OBC reservation has become politically and socially significant in Madhya Pradesh, where around 50% of the population belongs to the OBC category, but currently only 14% of government jobs and educational seats are reserved for them.
Earlier, political tensions flared when the Congress party accused the BJP-led state government of intentionally delaying the implementation of the law.
The Congress had passed the ordinance in 2019 to increase the OBC quota, but the BJP government has since claimed there are legal limitations.
The BJP has argued that the reservation cap set by the Supreme Court at 50% would be violated if the OBC quota is raised to 27%. As stated, “legal hurdle” is being cited as the main reason for the delay in implementation.
On March 8, 2019, the then Congress government issued an ordinance to increase the OBC reservation from 14% to 27%.
However, a student challenged this move in court, leading to a stay by the High Court. On March 19, 2019, the court passed an order staying the additional 13% OBC reservation.
Later in July 2019, the state assembly passed legislation to replace the ordinance, thus officially making the 27% OBC quota part of the law.
However, the 13% hike remains under judicial scrutiny due to the High Court’s stay.
The petition claims: “the Madhya Pradesh government arbitrarily failed to implement the Act to extend the benefit of the said amendment in nearly all recruitment processes.” The petitioners argue that although half the state’s population falls under the OBC category, they are being unfairly denied proportional representation.
Prior to 2019, Madhya Pradesh followed the reservation structure of 14% for OBCs, 20% for Scheduled Tribes (ST), and 16% for Scheduled Castes (SC) — totaling the maximum permissible 50%.
The increase of the OBC quota to 27% pushed the total reservation to 63%, thereby breaching the Supreme Court’s reservation ceiling.
Following the High Court stay, a temporary formula was introduced to manage ongoing recruitment and examination processes.
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As per this system, 87% of seats were filled as per existing quotas, while 13% were held separately and marked as “reserved” pending a final judicial verdict.
In 2024, in a major legal development, the Supreme Court transferred all pending petitions related to the OBC quota hike — nearly 70 in total — from the High Court to itself. Until the Supreme Court delivers a final decision, the 87:13 formula remains in use for recruitments and admissions.
Case Title:
Ashish Bhargava & Ors. vs. State of Madhya Pradesh & Ors.
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