SC asks state to submit existing OBC data, CM Thackeray to hold meeting with officials

MUMBAI: A day after the Supreme Court (SC) on Wednesday asked the state government to submit existing data on Other Backward Class (OBC) communities to the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), a state cabinet meeting was held on Thursday where it was decided that chief minister Uddhav Thackeray will meet members of the Commission and senior ministers in the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government to discuss the matter that will have long-term political implications in the state.

The meeting is likely to be held on January 24.

“The chief minister wants to understand if there are any issues related to the functioning of MSBCC, data collection on OBC communities and also what the state government expects from the Commission. All this will be discussed with the members along with senior MVA ministers,” a senior minister who did not wish to be named said.

The SC on Wednesday refused to offer relief on the plea filed by the Maharashtra government seeking a recall of the top court’s December order stating that seats reserved for OBC candidates in local bodies should be re-notified as general category seats.

However, the apex court allowed the state government to submit existing data on OBC communities to the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) for assessment, and said that the Commission could submit its interim report to the state within 15 days of receiving this data.

“The data and information may be furnished before the dedicated commission (MSBCC) to enable the latter to examine it and submit interim recommendations, which can be acted upon in terms of the law.”

“This obviously would not obviate the triple test which had to be completed by the state under the 2021 judgment before providing reservation of seats for OBC in local bodies,” a three-judge bench comprising justices AM Khanwilkar, Dinesh Maheshwari and CT Ravikumar, had said.

Chandralal Meshram, a MSBCC member said that they were yet to receive the entire data from the state. “The Commission will examine the data once the entire data is received from the state government. If sought, the report will be submitted to the state government,” he said.

The state told the court that it would submit data including that what was collected in a sample survey by the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics, as well as what is currently available on a government portal.

“The data was available for some time but has been recently analyzed to reveal the population of the backward class of citizens,” the state’s January 16 application in the apex court, seeking a recall of its December order, stated.