Supreme Court dismisses the interim report of the Maharashtra Backward Classes Commission on OBC Quota
Recently, the Supreme Court has dismissed the interim report of the Maharashtra Backward Classes Commission.
- Following the Supreme Court order, the Maharashtra government says that there will be no elections to local bodies till the reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) is implemented as before.
- The Maharashtra Backward Classes Commission, through this interim report, had recommended the restoration of 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies.
- Earlier in December 2021, the Supreme Court had stayed the conduct of elections to the seats reserved for OBCs in local bodies of Maharashtra. The reason behind this ban was that the state government had not followed the mandatory “triple-test” directive laid down by the Supreme Court before setting the quota.
- Subsequently, the state government requested the Supreme Court to allow the remaining elections to be held on the basis of the information/data already available with it.
- The Supreme Court then ordered the state government to hand over the data to the State Backward Classes Commission. Now this commission has submitted its interim report.
The ‘triple-tests’ as prescribed by the Supreme Court consists of the following:
- To strictly examine the nature of backwardness for OBCs in respect of local bodies within the State, and its aspects on a contemporary basis. This is called empirical inquiry. This task has to be accomplished by constituting a dedicated commission.
- Thereafter, on the basis of the recommendations of the Commission, the proportion of compulsory reservation for making provision for reservation in individual local bodies is determined, also, the number of seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes, to the total number of seats. Should not exceed 50%.
- The Supreme Court’s decision to quash the provision of 27% reservation for OBCs in local bodies is based on the 2010 Krishna Murthy case.
- This case (or suit) was related to the issue of reservation in local bodies.
- Under the Constitution of India, providing reservation to OBCs at the local level is a voluntary (discretionary or optional) provision. In contrast, the Constitution makes provision for compulsory (binding) reservation of seats for the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes.
Source – The Hindu
