Gujarat High Court seeks details, expenditure of OBC commission

The Gujarat High Court on Thursday sought a reply from the state government on the functioning of the OBC commission and the work done by it so far since its formation in 1993. The court has also sought the details of the public money spent for the functioning of the commission as well as the number of resolutions passed by it.

The information was sought by the division bench of Acting Chief Justice AS Dave and Justice Biren Vaishnav during the hearing of a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Umiya Parivaar Visnagar, a Patidar organisation, through its president Ishwar Patel. The organisation demanded that the court should direct the state government to form a permanent commission to examine various requests pertaining to inclusion and exclusion of castes under the OBC list.

Counsel for the petitioner Vishal Dave has contended before the court that the state government has failed to set up a permanent commission despite the Supreme Court's order to this effect 28 years ago. "In view of the guidelines issued by the apex court in the case of Indra Sawhney, it is imperative for the state government to constitute a permanent state commission for backward classes by enacting a legislation, which is long due," Dave told DNA.