SC and OBC

Indian political parties for appeasing their vote banks can go to any extent, even disregarding the Supreme Court’s (SC) directives and orders. The latest example of this is Govt of Maharashtra and SC regarding 27% reservations of seats in local body elections for Other Backward Class (OBC) candidates.

The SC on 6^th November 2021 stayed the local body election in seats reserved for OBC in Maharashtra.

A bench headed by Justice AM Khanvilkar directed in the order that “ The election program (notifications) in respect of all the local bodies across the state in respect of reserved seats for category OBC shall remain stayed until further orders. Rest of the election programs can proceed for other reserved seats (other than OBC) including general seats.”

This order came in a petition challenging a Maharashtra govt’s ordinance which introduced reservation for OBC category in local elections. The State Election Commission had subsequently issued notifications to give effect to the ordinance. However, the SC ordered State Election Commission to desist from proceeding with the election program already notified in respect of reserved seats for OBC category only, in the concerned local bodies.

It said even in other future elections to Maharashtra’s local bodies, be it mid term or general elections, the State Election Commission has to “ desist from notifying seats for OBC category” until further orders of SC. The seemingly indefinite stay was ordered after the court came to know that the 27% reservation was introduced through the ordinance without any empirical data substantiate the claim for or extent of reservation.

The SC said a triple test has to be followed before deciding on the extent of quota to a category. Firstly, a dedicated Commission needs to be set up to conduct rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness as regards local bodies within the state; secondly, there is need to specify the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body wise in light of recommendations of the Commission, so as not to foul of overbreadth; and thirdly, reservations should not exceed aggregate 50% of total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together.

Although Maharashtra govt had set up Commission in June 2021, after triple test order of SC in March 2021, to collect empirical data, the SC noticed that the State did not wait for the panel to come up report. Instead, the state govt went ahead and promulgated an ordinance to side step the triple test. The State Election Commission had followed suit by issuing election notifications implementing the ordinance.

In the SC’s  order it is mentioned that “ The state govt constituted the Commission. However, without waiting for its report and opinion, it hastened the process by issuing an ordinance which clearly impinges the legal position expounded by the SC.”

This has come as a great setback of the Maharashtra govt, the SC has given order many times on the reservations saying that the total reservations can not exceed 50% in any scheme, be it welfare or electoral. But it was the high headedness of the state govt by passing the SC order and issuing an ordinance in this regard, of 27% reservations for OBC in local body poll. What is going to happen now is , there will be two times election for local bodies. Initially for 73% of seats and second time for 27% of seats , which were reserved for OBCs.

Even in the 75^th year after independence, these politicians are fighting for reservations. The people who drafted the constitution recommended the reservations for 10 years only, but still even after three generations reservations are continuing. Indirectly or directly these reservations have become solid vote bank for the politicians, and it looks like that the reservations are going to stay for long in for the times to come.

So friends, what is your opinion in this matter.

Waiting, for your views on this blog.

Anil Malik

Mumbai, India

7^th December 2021