News Brief
Supreme Court Likens Reservation System To Train Bogie Amid Debate Over OBC Quota In Maharashtra Local Body Elections
Supreme Court of India.
Justice Surya Kant, who will take over as Chief Justice later this year made an important comment while presiding over a bench with Justice N K Singh, during a hearing concerning the implementation of reservations to Other Backward Classes (OBC) in Maharashtra local body elections.
The court was considering the report of the state-appointed Banthia Commission that had granted reservations to OBCs without properly determining political backwardness, according to the petitioner.
LiveLaw reported that senior counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan, representing the petitioner, appealed that political backwardness must be established independently and cannot be assumed automatically on grounds of social or educational backwardness. He contended that the approach of the commission was constitutionally flawed.
In response, Justice Kant said, “The thing is, in this country, the reservation business has become like a railway. Those who have entered the bogie, they don't want anyone else to enter. That is the whole game. That is precisely the game of the petitioner also.”
“When you follow the principle of inclusivity, the states are bound to identify more classes. There will be social backward class, politically backwards class, and economically backward classes. Why should they be deprived of the benefit? Why should it be confined to one particular family or groups?” Justice Kant added.
The court also stressed that the local body elections, long overdue in Maharashtra, could no longer be postponed over unresolved issues regarding OBC reservations. The matter has now been deferred to hear the state government’s stance.
