SC objects to OBC reservation for panchayat president

The Court on Monday took serious note of the election process reserving the post of president of a panchayat samiti in Maharashtra for the Other Backward Class (OBC) category, saying it is clearly in the teeth of the judgement delivered by the apex court earlier this year.

“We will have to intervene now. This is trying to overreach the Supreme Court decision,” a bench of Justices A.M. Khanwilkar and C.T. Ravikumar said.

The bench issued notice to the concerned collector asking why appropriate action should not be taken against him for initiating the election process reserving it for the OBC category to fill the vacancy in the panchayat samiti despite an unambiguous decision of a three-judge bench of the top court.

The apex court was hearing a petition against the Bombay High Court order which was passed on a plea assailing the decision of the concerned authority reserving the post of president of the panchayat samiti for the OBC category.

During the hearing, the top court observed that in a separate matter which had come up earlier before it, a three-judge bench had delivered a judgement in March this year in which the court had noted the triple test to be followed before provisioning such reservation for the OBC category.

State minister from the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and an OBC leader Chhagan Bhujbal however said that the state is looking to move the court for revising its order.

“The three tests laid down by the court have been fulfilled and the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission has been appointed and it will start collecting the empirical data soon. We are however consulting the legal experts and will move court for revision [of the order],” he said.