The Madhya Pradesh government and the opposition Congress are preparing to challenge the Madhya Pradesh High Court’s order striking down the 27 per cent Other Backward Classes (OBC) reservation in government jobs and higher education, setting the stage for a fresh legal battle over the quota in the Supreme Court.
The move comes two days after the High Court, on Friday (October 9), ruled that OBCs were entitled to 14 per cent reservation, rather than the 27 per cent quota introduced by the then Kamal Nath-led Congress government in 2019. The verdict brought a seven-year legal battle involving more than 90 petitions to a crucial turning point.
On Saturday, state Panchayati Raj and Rural Development Minister Prahlad Patel said the Mohan Yadav government would approach the Supreme Court after examining the High Court’s 159-page order.
“The state government will approach the SC on the issue and present its case firmly. Our government has previously presented its case before the court with full accountability, and it will continue to fight this battle responsibly in the future as well,” Patel said.
Hours later, state Congress president Jitu Patwari announced that his party, too, would move the Supreme Court, promising a strong legal challenge to protect the interests of the OBC community.
“We already have a team of top advocates, including Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Kapil Sibal and Vivek Tankha, who will represent the cause of the state’s OBC population in the top court. If necessary, we will hire bigger lawyers and spend whatever sum is needed, even up to Rs 50 crore,” Patwari said.
The parallel announcements have triggered a political blame game, with the BJP and Congress accusing each other of weakening the case for enhanced OBC reservation. The state government has blamed the previous Congress regime for introducing the quota without adequately addressing constitutional concerns, while Congress leaders have accused the BJP government of failing to defend OBC interests effectively before the High Court.
Patel said the High Court had flagged serious shortcomings in the earlier government’s decision, including the alleged political motivation behind the ordinance and the absence of a concrete justification for breaching the 50 per cent reservation ceiling.
“The then government ignored constitutional provisions and did not present any concrete reason that could justify exceeding the 50 per cent reservation limit,” he said, questioning why the Congress had not addressed these concerns despite the BJP’s participation in the broader debate over the issue.
Leader of Opposition Umang Singhar challenged the Mohan Yadav government to bring an ordinance to restore the 27 per cent quota. Patwari and Singhar accused the BJP of neglecting the rights of the OBC community and argued that weak legal representation had allowed the case to remain unresolved.
The Congress leaders also appealed to BJP representatives from the OBC community to unite in support of the enhanced quota and demanded that Chief Minister Mohan Yadav convene an all-party meeting to discuss the way forward.
In its October 9 ruling, the High Court held that the cases before it did not justify increasing OBC reservation in government recruitment and higher education from 14 per cent to 27 per cent. The enhanced quota was introduced by the Kamal Nath government in 2019, triggering a series of legal challenges over its constitutional validity.
The verdict also addressed the prolonged uncertainty surrounding recruitment under the disputed 87:13 formula. The court directed recruitment agencies to complete appointments against the 13 per cent of posts that had remained on hold since September 29, 2022, by filling them with candidates from the unreserved category.