Madhya Pradesh High Court Strikes Down 27% OBC Quota, Restores 14%

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has struck down the state's 2019 law raising OBC reservation from 14% to 27% in public services and higher education, holding it unconstitutional and contrary to the Supreme Court's 50% ceiling on quotas. A division bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Vinay Saraf, deciding 94 petitions in a 159-page judgment pronounced on October 9, 2026, held the state had failed to establish exceptional circumstances for the hike and rejected the data the state relied on. The court directed the MP Public Service Commission and the Employees Selection Board to implement the order within three months; appointments made up to September 29, 2022 under the amended law will stand, while later appointments beyond the 14% quota were declared void, with the remaining 13% of posts to be filled from the unreserved list. Hindustan Times NDTV (Hindustan Times, NDTV)

• The Madhya Pradesh High Court has struck down the state's 2019 law raising OBC reservation from 14% to 27% in public services and higher education, holding it unconstitutional and contrary to the Supreme Court's 50% ceil
• A division bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Vinay Saraf, deciding 94 petitions in a 159-page judgment pronounced on October 9, 2026, held the state had failed to establish exceptional circumstances for the hike and rej
• The court directed the MP Public Service Commission and the Employees Selection Board to implement the order within three months; appointments made up to September 29, 2022 under the amended law will stand, while later a