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Halt appointments, UP told
Supreme Court decision to hit OBCs

New Delhi, January 21
In a blow to the Rajnath Singh government in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections, the Supreme Court today stayed any further appointment of SC, ST and OBC candidates in the state services on the recommendation of the controversial Social Justice Committee, constitution of which was challenged by some public interest litigations (PILs).

Admitting the petitions, a Bench comprising Mr Chief Justice S.P. Bharucha, Mr Justice S.V. Patil and Mr Justice B.P. Singh ordered that till disposal of the PILs, no further appointments would be made on the recommendation of the committee.

The UP Government had on June 28, last year, issued a notification constituting the committee for making recommendations for reforms in connection with the people’s representation to look into the overall conditions of SC, ST and OBCs in the state.

The petitioners contended that the state government had acted in this manner with an eye on the elections and had no power to constitute such a committee, rendering the notification as illegal.

The committee had submitted its report to the government on August 31, 2001, following which the UP Public Service (reservation to Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and other Backward Castes) (Amendment) Order, 2001, was passed by it.

As Attorney-General Soli Sorabjee, appearing for the state government sought clarification whether the stay would apply for appointments under the new Act or the parent Act, the Bench said, “Our order is very clear. All appointments will be stopped and there should be no transgression of it.”

The order was replaced by an Act passed by the state Assembly on October 6, last year.

The petitioners while seeking the quashing of the notification constituting the committee challenged the validity of the Act passed by the government.

Senior advocate Kapil Sibal, appearing for the Akhil Bharatvarshiya Chathra Yuva Sangh, one of the petitioners alleged that the state government was on the verge of making 20,000 appointments under the new law.

The PILs said the Act had sought to categorise backward castes in three categories — backward, more backward and most backward — SCs and STs in ‘A’ and ‘B’ categories contrary to the constitutional provisions. PTI