Supreme Court orders Chandigarh to implement OBC quota from 2025-26 academic session
Supreme Court orders staggered rollout of 27 per cent OBC reservation in Chandigarh’s educational admissions, starting with three per cent this year.
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The Supreme Court also mandated compliance reporting. (Express Archive/Amit Mehra)The Supreme Court Wednesday directed the Union Government and the Chandigarh Administration to begin implementing reservation for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in educational institutions in the Union Territory, starting from the 2025-26 academic year.
A Supreme Court Bench gave the direction while hearing a special leave petition challenging the Punjab and Haryana High Court’s refusal to quash the admission prospectus of the Government Medical College, Chandigarh, for not providing reservations to OBCs in admission to the MBBS course.
The bench, led by Chief Justice of India B R Gavai, along with Justices Satish Chandra Sharma and K Vinod Chandran, recorded the statement of Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati, appearing for the Union of India, who said that a formal notification for OBC quota would be issued within a week. The court took this commitment on record and directed immediate implementation.
The bench ruled that a three per cent reservation for OBC candidates must be introduced this academic year and gradually scaled up to 27 per cent over six years. The court emphasised that this rollout must begin wherever the counselling or admission process has not already commenced for the academic cycle of 2025-26.
The directive stated that if any admission processes for this year were already completed, the new reservation policy must be implemented from the next academic cycle (2026-27). The Supreme Court also mandated compliance reporting.
Until now, Chandigarh lacked a formal OBC quota in educational institutions, despite recommendations by the National Commission for Backward Classes and repeated representations.
Panjab University, although located in Chandigarh, has only provided a five per cent reservation for backward classes as of 2025 (not the full 27 per cent OBC quota). There is legal ambiguity about whether it must follow the Central rules or those of Punjab/Chandigarh.
The case is set for further listing next week.
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