SC reads down Maha Act on 27% quota to OBCs

The Supreme Court Thursday said reservation in favour of Other Backward Classes in concerned local bodies in Maharashtra cannot exceed aggregate 50 per cent of the total seats reserved for Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and OBCs taken together.

The apex court, while reading down section 12(2)(c) of the Maharashtra Zilla Parishads and Panchayat Samitis Act 1961 which provided 27 per cent reservation for persons belonging to backward class, also quashed the notifications issued by the state election commission in 2018 and 2020 providing reservation exceeding 50 per cent in local bodies of some districts.

It said election results of OBC (other backward classes) candidates, which had been made subject to the outcome of pleas pending before it, are declared as “non-est in law” and the vacancy of seats be forthwith filled up by the state election commission for the remainder term of the concerned local bodies.

“The challenge to the validity of section 12(2)(c) of the 1961 Act is negatived. Instead, that provision is being read down to mean that reservation in favour of OBCs in the concerned local bodies can be notified to the extent that it does not exceed aggregate 50 per cent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together,” a bench headed by Justice A M Khanwilkar said.

“In other words, the expression ‘shall be’ preceding 27 per cent occurring in section 12(2)(c), be construed as ‘may be’ including to mean that reservation for OBCs may be up to 27 per cent but subject to the outer limit of 50 per cent aggregate in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together, as enunciated by the constitution bench of this court,” said the bench, also comprising Justices Indu Malhotra and Ajay Rastogi.