Allahabad high court issues no interim order on addition to SC list

Allahabad: The Allahabad high court on Thursday refused to issue any interim order on the Uttar Pradesh government decision to add 17 Other Backward Castes to the list of Scheduled Castes which seems to have been taken in the light of the assembly elections in the state due to take place in February-March next.

The court has also sent a notice to the state government in this regard. The case will be re-heard in the first week of next month after receiving the government’s reply. The petitioners have been asked to appear in the court the same day with documents in support of their claims. Justice DB Bhosle is hearing the petition.

The decision to include these castes in the S C list was taken by the state cabinet on December 22 last which had drawn flaks from political parties like the Bahujan Samaj Party which are opposed to the ruling Samajwadi Party.

It has been opposed on several grounds one of them is that it is only the government at the Centre which is competent to take any such decision. The state government is only a recommending authorities in such cases.

The BSP, among others, has a different story to tell. Party leader Mayawati has claimed that her government had made this recommendation a long time ago and that the proposal is pending with the Centre, Some other parties have taken exception to it because it was taken on the eve of the assembly election in the stake to gain some political mileage.