States Lose The Power To List OBCs
By A Special Correspondent
First publised on 2021-05-06 13:04:49
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The 102nd amendment to the Constitution had granted constitutional status to the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) and had allegedly altered the system of identifying OBCs. The usual practice was for two lists - Central and state - to exist simultaneously and states had the power to identify communities and classes that were socially and educationally backward (SEBC) to grant them the benefit of reservation. At the time the amendment was carried out, several opposition parties had raised objections that the wording of the law would take away the rights of the states. But the government, especially the social justice minister Thaawarchand Gehlot, had rubbished the claims and had said that it was just to grant constitutional status to the NCBC.
But the Supreme Court, in a landmark judgment that will have wide ramifications, upheld the validity of the 102nd amendment unanimously, although the judges differed on how it altered the system of identifying the OBCs. A majority of three judges said that henceforth, only the President (which effectively means the Centre as the President issues orders on the advice of the central Council of Ministers) will be able to take decisions on declaring SEBCs for granting reservation. This denudes the power of the states in this regard. Two judges differed and in a separate order said that the system of having two lists can continue and both the Centre and the states can have their own lists in this regard.
If the wording of the amendment is not corrected, states will now have to make recommendations to the Centre to include SEBCs identified by them. Since most states feel that each state has different classes that need to be identified as OBCs after studying the ground realities and the background, they feel that this order will take away an important tool from them to provide social justice to backward communities and classes. They have asked the Centre to study the SC order in detail and amend the 102nd amendment appropriately to restore their power.
