Allahabad HC strikes down Yogi’s move to shift 17 OBCs to SC list

Lucknow: In a major setback to the Yogi Adityanath government, the Allahabad High Court on Monday stayed its decision to include 17 Other Backward Castes (OBC) in the Scheduled Castes (SC) list.
The court’s decision came on a petition filed by social activist Gorakh Prasad.
On June 24, the state government had directed District Magistrates and Commissioners to issue Scheduled Caste certificates to 17 OBCs – Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumhar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machua.
The government’s move was apparently aimed at wooing these communities ahead of by-elections to 12 Assembly seats.
The decision, incidentally, had been criticized even by the BJP-led Central government, with Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot telling the Rajya Sabha on July 2 that the move was not in accordance with the Constitution.
Gehlot had said that if the UP government wanted to go ahead with its proposal, it should follow procedure and send a proposal to the Centre.