MP High Court strikes down 27 pc OBC quota, restores 14 pc reservation

Bhopal: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday struck down the law providing 27 per cent reservation to Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in government jobs and higher education, ruling that the quota would remain at 14 per cent, directing recruitment agencies to fill the 13 per cent of posts kept on hold within three months.

A division bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Vinay Saraf declared unconstitutional the 2019 amendment through which the then Congress government led by Kamal Nath had increased OBC reservation from 14 per cent to 27 per cent.

The court directed the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), the Staff Selection Board (earlier known as Vyapam) and other recruitment agencies to fill the pending posts from the selection list of the unreserved category. The agencies have been asked to complete the process within a maximum period of three months.

The order is significant for candidates awaiting appointments in several recruitment processes affected by the legal dispute. The appointments to 13 per cent of the posts had been kept on hold pending a final decision on the validity of the enhanced OBC quota.

The bench held that the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation laid down in Supreme Court judgments had to be followed and that the exceptional circumstances required to justify increasing the OBC quota from 14 per cent to 27 per cent had not been established. The court referred to the Supreme Court's rulings in the Indra Sawhney vs Union of India and Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil cases while examining the validity of the amendment.

According to advocate Dheeraj Tiwari, the verdict followed a joint hearing of several connected petitions, including Ashita Dubey and Others vs State of Madhya Pradesh and Others (Writ Petition No. 5901/2019).

The court had reserved its judgment on August 5, 2026.

The 27 per cent OBC quota was introduced in 2019 during the Kamal Nath -led Congress government, which was subsequently challenged in the court, leading to prolonged litigation over recruitment to government posts and reservation in higher education.

The High Court also held appointments made on the basis of OBC reservation exceeding 14 per cent as invalid, according to the details shared by Tiwari.

Tiwari told media persons that the court allowed petitions challenging the enhanced OBC quota but dismissed petitions seeking separate relief concerning Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) and horizontal reservation.

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