High Court nixes 27 pc OBC reservation in Madhya Pradesh, restores pre-2019 quota of 14 pc

Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh High Court on Friday struck down the 2019 law enacted by the Kamal Nath-led Congress government, which raised reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) to 27 per cent, calling it unconstitutional, and restored the quota to 14 per cent in the state.

In its 159-page order, a division bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Vinay Saraf also directed state recruitment agencies to fill the 13 per cent of posts kept on hold (after legal challenge to quota hike law) from the unreserved category within three months.

Advocate General Prashant Singh, representing the state government, said the court delivered its verdict after examining documents, data and tables.


He noted the dispute involved the increase in OBC reservation from 14 per cent earlier to 27 per cent in 2019 in government jobs and education, not the quota for backward communities itself.

He added that the court found no exceptional circumstances to justify exceeding the 50 per cent ceiling on reservation, taking into account Supreme Court rulings in the Indra Sawhney and Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil cases.

The Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC), Employees Selection Board and other recruitment agencies have been directed to complete the necessary action regarding the 13 per cent of posts within three months.

The then-Kamal Nath-led Congress government (December 2018-March 2020) had increased OBC reservation from 14 per cent to 27 per cent in 2019 through an ordinance on March 8, which became a law on August 14 that year itself.

The move was challenged in the HC, and the matter subsequently came before the Supreme Court before being sent back to the Madhya Pradesh High Court for a joint hearing and decision on the connected petitions.

The final hearing in a clutch of petitions concluded on August 5, 2026, after which the bench reserved its verdict.

Meanwhile, state Congress president Jitu Patwari said his party would continue its fight for 27 per cent OBC reservation.

He accused the BJP government and Chief Minister Mohan Yadav of conspiring against OBCs and asserted the Congress would challenge the HC verdict in the Supreme Court.

The OBC Mahasabha expressed disappointment with the ruling.

Lokendra Gurjar, a member of its national core committee and a petitioner in the case, said the organisation would challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court and launch a state-wide agitation to protect the rights of OBCs.

Former Madhya Pradesh State Backward Classes Commission chairman J P Dhanopia alleged the ruling resulted from the state government's "ill intentions".

He claimed the government had failed to present the facts effectively before the court, depriving the OBCs of the benefits of 27 per cent reservation.