Jabalpur: The Madhya Pradesh government has been given two weeks’ time to furnish reply on a petition which challenged its decision to increase OBS reservation quota from 14% to 27% which breaches the limit of 50% reservation quota.

While the state government was to submit its reply on Wednesday to the high court, Additional Advocate General Shashank Shekhar sought more time to prove the justification of 27% reservation to the OBC category. The high court acceded to the request.

The ordinance promulgated by Governor Anandiben Patel had increased the reservation in government jobs and university admission to the OBC category. There is 16% reservation for the Scheduled Castes and 20% to Scheduled Tribes.

A group of medical students on March 8 had challenged the ordinance and had sought directions from the High Court that the upcoming medical counselling would be conducted under the existing 14% OBC reservation rule. The court had stayed the government’s decision to enhance reservation.

Later, a few students from the OBC category also approached the court with an intervention petition. The court will hear both petitions on the next hearing.

The intervention petition argued that three pleas pertaining to the issue of OBC reservation are already pending before the Supreme Court. The apex court in the past had observed that it reserves the right to hear such pleas, it added.