MP High Court Defers OBC Quota Hike Hearing
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Tuesday deferred the hearing on a batch of petitions both challenging and supporting the increase in OBC reservation in state government jobs and educational institutions. The court was informed that five related petitions pending in the Supreme Court have yet to be transferred to the High Court.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva and Justice Vinay Saraf adjourned the matter to May 13. The case is now scheduled for three consecutive days of hearing.
In March, the Supreme Court had transferred all petitions on the issue back to the High Court for adjudication. However, the five petitions directly filed in the apex court have not been transferred yet.
During the hearing, the state government informed the court that special counsels appointed to present its case would not appear. Instead, Advocate General Prashant Singh and senior Supreme Court counsel KM Natrajan will represent the state.
The erstwhile Kamal Nath government had sought to raise OBC quota in the state from 14% to 27% through an ordinance in 2019, later replaced by an Act passed by the state assembly. Litigation over the constitutional validity of the move has been ongoing since then.
