Bhopal- A new demand has been raised in Madhya Pradesh to protect and implement the 27 percent reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBC). Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Umang Singhar has demanded that OBC reservation be implemented and that consideration be given to including it in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution. In this connection, he has written letters to Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav and the Governor, urging them to take initiative on this issue. After the Congress put forward the option of the Ninth Schedule, a new debate has begun in the legal and political battle over OBC reservation.
Social organizations that have long been agitating for OBC reservation have welcomed Singhar's move. Dharmendra Kushwaha, a core committee member of the OBC Mahasabha and an advocate in the High Court, described it as a commendable initiative in the fight for the rights of the OBC community. He says that when the BJP is in power both at the Centre and in Madhya Pradesh, and the Congress too supports 27 percent reservation, the government should take concrete steps toward implementing it, so that a situation of legal dispute does not arise on this issue in the future.
Meanwhile, OBC Mahasabha leader Mahendra Lodhi said that the OBC community knows how to claim its rights. Talks have been held with the government on the reservation issue, and the government has said it will work toward implementing reservation after consideration. However, he made it clear that if the demand is not met, the OBC Mahasabha will launch an agitation.
The decision to raise OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh from 14 percent to 27 percent was taken in 2019 by the Congress government led by then Chief Minister Kamal Nath. The purpose of this decision was to give greater representation to Other Backward Classes in government jobs and educational institutions in the state. However, the decision to increase reservation was challenged in court, and after that a long legal battle began over the 27 percent reservation.
Dharmendra Kushwaha, a core committee member of the OBC Mahasabha and an advocate in the High Court, alleges that during the BJP government's tenure, the case was not effectively argued in court, because of which the OBC community had to suffer losses over the 27 percent reservation. According to him, after the decision to increase reservation, it was the government's responsibility to keep the legal side strong and take the necessary steps to save the reservation.
In the matter of OBC reservation, it is necessary to keep in mind the court proceedings, the various interim orders and the final legal position. Amid the judicial process over the 27 percent reservation provision, the issue of 13 percent of posts being held in several recruitments has also been part of the dispute. In such a situation, OBC organizations demand that the government find a permanent solution to the question of reservation, so that candidates do not have to face uncertainty for a long time.
Certain laws have been included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, for which special protection is provided under Article 31B of the Constitution. However, laws included in the Ninth Schedule are also not entirely beyond judicial review in every situation. According to Supreme Court rulings, laws included in the Ninth Schedule, especially after April 24, 1973, can be reviewed on the ground of whether they violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
In such a situation, the proposal to include the 27 percent OBC reservation in the Ninth Schedule is a subject connected to the legal and constitutional process. For this, the relevant law, constitutional provisions and the role of the central government would have to be considered. A law cannot be included in the Ninth Schedule merely by a state government's announcement.
The importance of Umang Singhar's initiative lies in the fact that, amid the current dispute over reservation, he has started a discussion on a possible constitutional route.
Leader of Opposition in the Madhya Pradesh Assembly Umang Singhar has written letters to the Governor and Chief Minister Dr. Mohan Yadav, demanding the necessary constitutional and legal action to ensure that Other Backward Classes (OBC) in the state get the benefit of 27 percent reservation. He has urged the state government to take initiative before the central government to have the reservation-related provisions included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, to prepare a concrete legal proposal based on updated and reliable data related to the social, educational and political participation of the OBC community, and to consider the legal options available in conformity with High Court judgments and existing constitutional provisions. Singhar has demanded that the state government review the action taken so far in this matter, take a time-bound decision, and take prompt effective steps to ensure the benefit of 27 percent reservation.
Former Chief Minister Kamal Nath, targeting the BJP government, wrote on X: "WriteIn the matter of giving 27% reservation to Other Backward Classes in Madhya Pradesh, the Bharatiya Janata Party's stance has so far proved to be entirely conspiratorial. In 2019, during my tenure as Chief Minister, OBCs were given 27% reservation. In the last seven years, the BJP has continuously tried in the High Court and the Supreme Court to ensure that this reservation is ended.
The way the BJP government argued weakly and the way its lawyers kept going to court unprepared, because of that a verdict against 27% reservation came from the High Court.
Now the BJP government is pretending to go to the Supreme Court. I repeat once again that if the BJP does not want to end the reservation given by my government, then it should go to the Supreme Court fully prepared.
The official authentic data on the population of Other Backward Classes in Madhya Pradesh should be presented in the Supreme Court. The issue of the 50% limit on reservation has automatically ended, because this limit has already been crossed in the form of EWS reservation.
Looking at the childish statements BJP leaders made after the High Court verdict, I also want to tell BJP leaders that whatever help they need from me or the Congress party in this regard, they should let us know. We are ready to help in every way."
Senior advocate Rameshwar Thakur of the Jabalpur High Court told 'The Mooknayak' that if the 27 percent OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh had been included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, it would not have been so easy to challenge it in court. According to Thakur, the Supreme Court has kept open the route of judicial review of laws included in the Ninth Schedule after 1973. In the 2007 I.R. Coelho versus State of Tamil Nadu judgment, it was clarified that laws included in the Ninth Schedule after April 24, 1973 can also be reviewed if they violate the basic structure of the Constitution.
However, Thakur said that despite this, in later years laws of various states continued to be included in the Ninth Schedule. According to him, inclusion in the Ninth Schedule gives a law additional constitutional protection and the legal process of challenging it can become more complex. He believes that if Madhya Pradesh's 27 percent OBC reservation law had also been included in the Ninth Schedule, the present situation might have been different. Read the newspaper
Rameshwar Thakur also questioned the state government's intention, saying that the government's intention was not really to give 27 percent reservation to the OBC class. According to him, despite the provision being made in the law, it was not fully implemented in the state and in many cases the benefit corresponding to 27 percent reservation could not be received.
Thakur alleges that the government did not take the steps necessary to implement the reservation effectively, after which the matter went to court and the High Court, in its judgment, struck down the law relating to 27 percent reservation. He said that if the government had been serious about giving 27 percent reservation to the OBC class, then concrete initiative could have been taken to implement the law effectively and to secure constitutional protection for it.
According to Rameshwar Thakur, the 14% OBC, 16% Scheduled Caste (SC) and 20% Scheduled Tribe (ST) reservation already in force in Madhya Pradesh together make up a total of 50% reservation. After this, with the implementation of 10% EWS reservation, this limit has already been crossed. In such a situation, if an initiative had been taken to include the 27% OBC reservation in the Ninth Schedule through a constitutional amendment, it could have received additional constitutional protection and it would have been relatively difficult to challenge it in court. However, laws included in the Ninth Schedule are also not entirely beyond judicial review.
The example of 69% reservation in Tamil Nadu is important in this debate. There, the reservation law has been included in the Ninth Schedule, which gave it additional constitutional protection. On this very basis, a demand is being raised in Madhya Pradesh too to include the 27% OBC reservation in the Ninth Schedule. Supporters believe that if such an initiative had been taken in time, it could have helped in avoiding the current legal situation regarding reservation.
In the legal dispute over 27% OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh, the BJP government now appears to be under pressure. The High Court struck down the 2019 law, citing the 50% reservation limit laid down in the Indira Sahni versus Union of India case. In this entire dispute, questions are also being raised about the state government's legal argumentation, that it could not effectively present before the court adequate data related to the social and economic status of the OBC community and a solid basis for increasing reservation. At the same time, because of the already implemented 10% EWS reservation, the total reservation limit has gone beyond 50%, which makes the legal debate on this issue even more complex. Know the history
In such a situation, if an initiative had been taken earlier toward getting the law relating to 27% OBC reservation included in the Ninth Schedule of the Constitution, it could have received additional constitutional protection, although this too does not entirely end judicial review. Now, after Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar raised the demand to include OBC reservation in the Ninth Schedule and the OBC Mahasabha appealed to the BJP governments at the Centre and in the state to take steps in this direction, political pressure on the BJP has increased. With the Congress's support and the OBC Mahasabha's demand, the question now is what stance the BJP government, in power both at the Centre and in the state, will adopt on this issue. In this way, the Ninth Schedule issue is no longer confined to a legal debate alone, but is also becoming a challenge of political accountability for the BJP government.
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