E-Paper
SC to hear on Wed plea against Allahabad high court OBC quota verdict
Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta mentioned the plea before a bench of Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha requesting urgent listing
The Supreme Court will on Wednesday hear an Uttar Pradesh government petition challenging the Allahabad high court decision setting aside a draft notification reserving seats for chairpersons in urban local bodies for Other Backward Classes (OBC) and directing elections be held forthwith without the reservation.
Solicitor-general Tushar Mehta mentioned the appeal before a bench of Chief Justice of India Dhananjaya Y Chandrachud and Justice PS Narasimha for urgent listing. “This appeal is against a decision of the high court setting aside a draft notification and directing us to conduct elections forthwith without reserving seats for the OBCs.”
The state government requested the matter be heard before Wednesday as the December 27 high court order has sought to commence the election process for the municipalities, whose tenure has either ended or will come to an end before January 31. The bench directed the matter to be heard on Wednesday.
A set of Public Interest Litigations challenged the reservation to OBCs. The high court struck down the notification saying the state government failed to fulfil the triple test the top court prescribed for it in a 2010 judgment.
The 2010 verdict was reiterated in a 2021 decision in the context of the Maharashtra local body polls.
A Supreme Court constitution bench in 2010 provided for the setting up of a commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness with respect to local bodies. It specified the proportion of reservation in light of the commission’s proposals should not exceed the 50% quota cap the Supreme Court held in a 1992 judgment.
The high court said until the triple test/conditions mandated in K Krishna Murthy (2010) and Vikas Kishanrao Gawali (2021) are completed in all respects, no reservation for backward classes shall be provided. “...and the process of completion of triple test/conditions being arduous is likely to take considerable time, it is directed that the State Government/State Election Commission shall notify the elections immediately.”
It added while notifying the elections, the seats and offices of chairpersons, except those to be reserved for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, shall be notified as for general/open category.
The state government moved the Supreme Court saying the draft notification cannot be set aside. It argued the high court order deprived backward classes of their constitutional rights.
The state government said the high court directed all district magistrates in April 2017 to conduct a survey for determining the population of OBCs in every ward of municipal bodies. It cited the data and said the triple test criteria were fulfilled.
The high court rejected the argument and said the state ought to form a commission to collect data on backwardness ward wise.
The state government has constituted justice (retired) Ram Avtar Singh-led five-member commission to decide on the OBC reservation in local bodies. Singh has indicated the panel will take about six months to prepare the draft reservation as per the triple test.
