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50% reservation ceiling: MP High Court voids 27% OBC quota

By CAShorts DeskPublished Updated Source: The Indian Express, Hindustan Times

50% reservation ceiling: MP High Court voids 27% OBC quota
Illustration (AI-generated)

The Madhya Pradesh High Court on October 9, 2026 struck down the State's 2019 law raising reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) from 14% to 27%. It held the State had not shown the exceptional circumstances needed to cross the 50% ceiling set by the Supreme Court. OBC reservation in public services and higher education stays at 14%.

Syllabus: GS2 · Constitution; Prelims · Polity & Governance; GS2 · Welfare of Vulnerable Sections

Why it matters

A candidate preparing for a Madhya Pradesh government job or a college seat now knows the split: 14% of posts and seats are reserved for OBCs, and the 13% that the 2019 law had added goes back to the unreserved list. People appointed against the extra quota up to September 29, 2022 keep their jobs. For every other State, the ruling repeats a working rule: a government that wants to take reservation above 50% must first collect fresh data showing that a group is backward and too thinly present in its services. An old report will not do. The larger question is how India balances reservation for backward classes with equal opportunity for every citizen.

Prelims pointers

  • Article 16(4): the State may reserve appointments for any backward class of citizens that, in its opinion, is not adequately represented in the services under the State.
  • Article 15(4): special provisions for socially and educationally backward classes, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes; added by the Constitution (First Amendment) Act, 1951.
  • Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992): a nine-judge Supreme Court bench upheld 27% OBC reservation in central services, fixed the 50% ceiling and excluded the creamy layer.
  • 50% ceiling: a judge-made rule; reservation for backward classes may cross it only in extraordinary situations, backed by data.
  • Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil (2021): a five-judge Constitution Bench struck down Maharashtra's Maratha reservation for crossing 50% without exceptional circumstances.
  • 103rd Amendment, 2019: added Articles 15(6) and 16(6), allowing up to 10% reservation for Economically Weaker Sections; upheld in Janhit Abhiyan (2022).
  • Article 338B: the National Commission for Backward Classes, a constitutional body since the 102nd Amendment, 2018.
  • Tamil Nadu's 69% reservation law was placed in the Ninth Schedule by the 76th Amendment, 1994.

Practise a UPSC-style question

With reference to the Madhya Pradesh High Court's recent judgment on reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs), consider the following statements:

1. The court examined data from the All India Survey on Higher Education, which is published by NITI Aayog.

2. The court struck down a State law that had raised reservation for OBCs from 14% to 27%.

3. The court held that the State had not shown exceptional circumstances for crossing the 50% ceiling on reservation.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

  1. (a) 1 and 2 only
  2. (b) 2 and 3 only
  3. (c) 1 and 3 only
  4. (d) 1, 2 and 3
Show the answer

Answer: (b) 2 and 3 only

1 is incorrect: the All India Survey on Higher Education is published by the Ministry of Education, not NITI Aayog. 2 is correct: the court struck down Madhya Pradesh's 2019 law raising OBC reservation from 14% to 27%. 3 is correct: it held that the State had not established the exceptional circumstances needed to cross the 50% ceiling.

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