Panchayat Polls 2026 | Allahabad High Court Disposes PIL As State Confirms Process Underway To Constitute OBC Commission
Sparsh Upadhyay
12 Feb 2026 5:04 PM IST
After the Uttar Pradesh Government submitted that it is in the process of constituting an OBC Commission for the purposes of ensuring Panchayat elections as per law, the Allahabad High Court last week disposed of a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) plea concerning the issue.
A bench of Justice Rajan Roy and Justice Abdhesh Kumar Chaudhary was hearing a PIL plea filed by Advocate Moti Lal Yadav, which argued that the proposal to form a 6-member dedicated OBC commission has been pending before the state cabinet (CM Yogi Adityanath) for more than 5 months.
The plea contended that without the formation of such a commission, the state cannot fulfil the “Triple Test” criteria laid down by the Supreme Court in the case of Vikas Kishanrao Gawali v. State of Maharashtra & Ors. LL 2021 SC 13.
For context, in the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali case, the Apex Court had noted that a triple test is to be followed before provisioning reservation for the OBC category. The triple test involves:
(1) setting up a dedicated Commission to conduct a contemporaneous rigorous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of the backwardness qua local bodies, within the State;
(2) specifying the proportion of reservation required to be provisioned local body-wise in light of recommendations of the Commission, so as not to fall foul of overbreadth; and
(3) not exceeding an aggregate of 50 percent of the total seats reserved in favour of SCs/STs/OBCs taken together.
The petition stated that if the commission is not formed and the elections are conducted based on the 2021 reservation list, it would violate the UP Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, and the directions of the Supreme Court.
The PIL highlighted that the State Election Commission has already assured that preparations are on track for the three-tier Panchayat elections scheduled for April to July 2026.
It added that the State Election Commission may initiate the formal process only after the state government has finalised the reservation of seats.
The petitioner had also expressed fears that the delay in forming the commission could push the local body polls to 2027 and this could potentially merge the schedule with the State Assembly elections.
The primary relief sought was a mandamus directing the Chief Minister (as head of the Cabinet) to decide on the pending proposal to form the commission.
Referring to Section 11A(2) of the U.P. Panchayat Raj Act, 1947, the PIL plea statesd that OBC seats must be reserved strictly according to population data derived from a valid empirical survey.
Case title - Moti Lal Yadav vs. Honble Chief Minister Thru. Cabinet Secy. State Of U.P. Lko. And 3 Others 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 75
Case citation : 2026 LiveLaw (AB) 75