Why it is in the news
On 9 October 2026 the Madhya Pradesh High Court (Division Bench of Justices Anand Pathak and Vinay Saraf) struck down the Madhya Pradesh Public Service (Reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Other Backward Classes) Amendment Act, 2019, which had raised OBC reservation in State government jobs from 14% to 27%. The Court held that the State could not show the “extraordinary conditions or emergent situations” needed to breach the 50% ceiling laid down in Indra Sawhney, and that data on higher education and public employment showed OBCs to be adequately represented.
The exam angle
Issue: Can a State exceed the 50% ceiling to reflect OBC numbers, and what evidence must it bring before the courts will accept it?