Now Reading: Madhya Pradesh High Court strikes down 27% OBC quota, restores 14%
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Madhya Pradesh High Court strikes down 27% OBC quota, restores 14%
The Madhya Pradesh High Court on 9 October 2026 declared unconstitutional a 2019 amendment that raised OBC reservation in government jobs and higher education from 14% to 27%. A bench of Justice Anand Pathak and Justice Vinay Saraf ruled that the 50% reservation ceiling set by the Supreme Court in the Indra Sawhney case must be followed, and the state failed to prove exceptional circumstances for exceeding it.
The verdict invalidates appointments made under the higher quota. Recruitment agencies including MPPSC and the Employee Selection Board have been directed to fill the 13% of posts that were held pending the dispute from the unreserved category selection list within three months. Petitions seeking EWS and horizontal reservation relief were dismissed.
Indian Opinion Analysis
The court has restored the 14% OBC reservation ceiling in Madhya Pradesh, reversing a politically significant 2019 move by the then Kamal Nath government. This means over 10 lakh pending government job and higher education admission cases now fall back under the old quota. The immediate impact is on 13% of positions that were held due to the reservation dispute, these will now go to unreserved category candidates selected earlier. The ruling also blocks any future bid to raise OBC quota without proving exceptional circumstances, as required by the Supreme Court's Indra Sawhney judgment. The next concrete step is for MPPSC and other recruitment agencies to implement this order within three months.
Source: bhaskar.com
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