Supreme Court Seeks Madhya Pradesh Govt Reply On Plea For OBC Quota In Proportion To Population

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The Supreme Court on Friday issued a notice to the Madhya Pradesh government on a petition demanding reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in proportion to their population. The petition, filed by the OBC Advocates Welfare Association, seeks fair representation for OBCs in state government services.

A division bench of Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard the matter and directed the state government to explain why OBCs are not being provided reservation according to their demographic proportion.

Senior advocate Rameshwar Singh Thakur, appearing for the petitioner, argued that Section 4(2) of the Madhya Pradesh Reservation Act, 1994 is unconstitutional and violates Articles 14, 15 and 16 of the Constitution. The section currently allows 16% reservation for SCs, 20% for STs and 27% for OBCs.

Citing the 2011 Census, the petition stated that SCs constitute 15.6%, STs 21.01% and OBCs 50.01% of the state s population. It contends that while SCs and STs enjoy reservation proportional to their share, OBCs receive barely half of what their population warrants.

The Supreme Court took note of the argument and issued a notice to the state government, asking it to submit its reply within a week.