'Every Court Hearing Feels Like 'Déjà Vu': Why MP's OBC Quota Case Drags On

Caught in the crossfire are aspirants from OBC backgrounds for whom the delays in court hearings have tangible cost.

The OBC Mahasabha, an organisation of the community in Madhya Pradesh, termed the adjournment “judicial delay”.

(Photo: Kamran Akhter/The Quint)

When the Supreme Court adjourned the Madhya Pradesh Other Backward Castes (OBC) reservation case on Thursday, 9 October, few were surprised.

Solicitor General Tushar Mehta sought “more time” to understand technical issues, and the bench agreed, pushing the next hearing to 9 November, albeit with an expression of anguish. Since the court had previously accorded the matter high priority and intended to have day-to-day hearings, when Mehta sought more time, the court was unhappy.

It was a familiar pattern in a case that has come to symbolise India’s uneasy truce between social justice and political caution.

“Every hearing feels like déjà vu,” said one advocate involved in the case. “The government asks for more time, the court grants it, and the matter drifts. Meanwhile, thousands of candidates remain in limbo.”

The OBC Mahasabha, an organisation of the community in MP, termed it “judicial delay”.

“The struggle to get 27 percent reservation will continue,” said Lokendra Gurjar, national core committee member of the Mahasabha and one of the petitioners.

The Congress, too, has reacted sharply to the adjournment.

“The Mohan Yadav government is deliberately delaying the matter and creating hurdles for the OBCs.”

Umang Singhar, Leader of the Opposition in Madhya Pradesh

The Reservation Case

In MP, a temporary "87:13 formula" continues to be implemented, where 13 percent of posts are kept vacant until the court decides on the quota hike. This creates uncertainty and public discontent, sometimes leading to protest warnings, a senior government official said.

After the state decided to increase the reservation quota, it took the total reservation to 73 percent—Scheduled Tribes at 20 percent + Scheduled Castes at 16 percent + OBC 27 percent + Economically Weaker Sections at 10 percent.

MP often claimed that 48 percent of MP's population comprises OBCs, but conceded it lacks a recent, formal count—a gap that earlier contributed to stay orders from the MP High Court in 2019 and 2022.

The key question now is whether the state can justify crossing the 50 percent quota cap by proving "extraordinary" under-representation with strong and contemporary data.

The 27 Percent Promise

The dispute traces back to 2022, when the Kamal Nath-led Congress government issued an ordinance increasing the quota for OBCs in state jobs and educational institutions from 13 percent to 27 percent. The decision, announced with much fanfare, was pitched as an overdue correction in a state where OBCs make up more than half the population.

“We are only giving people their due share,” Kamal Nath had declared, presenting the move as part of the Congress’s broader social justice plank. But almost immediately, petitions flooded the courts, challenging the ordinance as unconstitutional under the SC's Indra Sawhney judgment, which capped reservations at 50 percent. The MP High Court stayed the implementation in some departments, and the case has since inched its way to the SC without closure.

Since 2019, government sources claimed, more than 35 recruitments have been interrupted, affecting almost 8 lakh aspirants.

Moreover, 3.2 lakh selected candidates await joining orders. Officials also said that since December 2023, the state filled up 29,000 posts, but 1,04,000 vacancies still remain, leading to a lot of uncertainty, government sources said. Prolonged litigation in the high court over the validity of the 2019 amendment has blocked recruitments to 12 departments of the government since 2022, they claim.

A Case Stuck Between Politics and Law

The Kamal Nath government fell in 2020, replaced by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan administration. Since then, both the Centre and the state have repeatedly sought adjournments citing “technical issues”.

Solicitor General Mehta on 9 October said several technical issues require detailed consideration.

“The court observed that cases could be remanded to MP High Court, as the government repeatedly seeks time. Many students are still awaiting appointment letters under the 87:13 formula, with 13 percent of posts left unfilled.”

A senior advocate

A senior state official, requesting anonymity, explained the bind. “We support OBC representation, but without fresh data, any move beyond 50 percent will collapse in court. It’s a political minefield.”

He added, “Both the Congress and the BJP want to appear pro-OBC but avoid accountability. Letting the case linger allows them to blame the courts instead of taking a stand.”

The result is a slow-motion stalemate—a judicial case that no side wants resolved too soon.

Balancing Act

In MP, OBCs form the largest voting bloc, cutting across rural and urban constituencies. Both the Congress and the BJP know that appearing indifferent could be politically costly. Yet, both risk alienating upper-caste voters if the reservation ceiling is breached.

Chouhan, himself from an OBC community, often invokes his “farmer’s son” background in speeches. But his government’s cautious legal stance betrayed how finely balanced the politics is. “No one wants to own the decision,” said a senior bureaucrat in the state. “Delaying the case allows both parties to talk about OBC empowerment without facing the consequences of actually implementing it,” he said.

But understanding the significance of the caste, from Uma Bharti to Mohan Yadav with Chouhan and Babulal Gaur in between, all the BJP chief ministers since it came to power in 2003 belong to the OBC community.

The Larger National Context

MP's impasse mirrors similar struggles across India. In Maharashtra, the demand for Maratha reservation continues to reshape electoral politics despite the SC's 2021 verdict striking down the 2018 law. Rajasthan has seen periodic Gujjar agitations demanding special status, while in Bihar, Rahul Gandhi and Nitish Kumar have made caste-based enumeration a centrepiece of their social justice campaign.

“The OBC issue is no longer confined to employment quotas—it’s about identity, recognition, and power,” quipped a senior bureaucrat in the state. “But our legal framework hasn’t evolved to reflect today’s demographic realities.”

Indeed, the last Caste Census was conducted in 1931, and while the 2011 Census collected data, the figures were never released. In that vacuum, state-level policies rely on outdated or incomplete information, making them vulnerable to judicial challenge.

Caught in the crossfire, however, are aspirants from OBC backgrounds for whom the delays have tangible costs.

Recruitment drives for state services remain unclear about the applicable quotas, and several departmental lists are stuck pending judicial clarity.

“Every year they announce exams, but we don’t know which policy applies,” said Alok Patel, a candidate preparing for the MP Public Service Commission exams. “We are waiting for both the government and the court to decide our future.”

A senior state Congress leader told The Quint that the party would “expose the BJP’s double standards on OBC rights” in the coming elections. The BJP leaders, in turn, argue that the Congress pushed through an “unconstitutional” ordinance without adequate data.

By the time the 9 November hearing approaches, few expect major progress. The state’s legal team is still preparing to submit justification data, and the Centre has not indicated whether it will back the expansion beyond 50 percent. For many observers, the adjournment itself has become the story.

“It’s a political strategy disguised as a legal delay,” said a senior advocate familiar with the case. “Everyone gains from waiting—except the people.”

In the end, MP's OBC reservation debate is no longer about 13 percent or 27 percent. It is about the politics of hesitation—where both major parties embrace the language of social justice but avoid the hard choices it demands.

Until the courts decide or governments act, the promise of 27 percent remains suspended between paperwork and politics.

(The author is a senior journalist based in Madhya Pradesh.)