Overview: The Madhya Pradesh High Court has stated that in the Civil Judge recruitment examination, the Other Backward Class (OBC) category was clubbed with the General category, affecting their rights. The OBC category should also receive a reservation in the minimum eligibility marks similar to the Scheduled Caste category.

The Madhya Pradesh High Court has given relief to OBC (Other Backward Class) candidates in the Civil Judge recruitment examination, stating in its order that OBC candidates should also be given a reservation in the minimum eligibility marks similar to SC-ST (Scheduled Caste-Scheduled Tribe) candidates.

The decision was made by Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra of the Madhya Pradesh High Court. The administration has been instructed to publish the notification within three days.

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The Madhya Pradesh High Court mentioned that in the Civil Judge recruitment examination, the Other Backward Class (OBC) category was grouped with the General category, which was affecting their rights. OBC candidates should also receive a reservation in the minimum eligibility marks similar to the Scheduled Caste category.

This year's aspirants will also benefit from this decision. The last date to apply for the Civil Judge Junior Division - 2022 exam is December 18, 2023. For the General category, a minimum of 70% marks in LLB has been prescribed for participation in the Civil Judge recruitment examination, which can be done without a certificate.

On the other hand, a minimum of 50% marks has been set as eligibility for the Scheduled Caste category. Now, Other Backward Class candidates will also receive a reservation similar to the Scheduled Caste category.

This is the entire case, Advocate Varsha Patel from the OBC Advocate Welfare Association had filed this petition. Senior advocates Rameshwar Singh Thakur and Vinayak Prasad Shah appeared for the petitioner. The petition challenged the constitutionality of the amendment made on June 23, 2023, to the recruitment rules by the Madhya Pradesh government in 1994.

The argument made by the petitioner in court was that in the High Court, the process of filling unreserved positions in the preliminary and main exams has been ongoing for a long time, exclusively with candidates from the unreserved category. Meritorious candidates from the reserved category are excluded from selection in the preliminary and main exams. This makes the reservation law a curse for the reserved category. The High Court has been implementing communal reservation for several years.

During the hearing on the petition challenging the Civil Judge recruitment rules, the High Court's Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Vishal Mishra had sought a response from the High Court administration. Chief Justice has also made it clear that OBCs will be treated equally to the unreserved category by amending the provision with equal standards as SC and ST candidates.

Conclusion:

Minimum marks needed for an OBC Candidate to appear for the examination is 50% after the order passed by the MP High Court on 4th December 2023.

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