The Madras High Court on Wednesday sought the response of the Centre to a public interest litigation (PIL) petition which sought a direction to constitute the National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) and appoint the chairperson, vice- chairperson and members at the earliest.
The First Division Bench of Chief Justice Munishwar Nath Bhandari and Justice N. Mala directed Assistant Solicitor-General Rajesh Vivekanandhan to take notice on behalf of the Union Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and ensure that a counter-affidavit was filed within six weeks.
K. Balu, president of Advocates’ Forum for Social Justice, had filed the petition contending that the commission had not been constituted for the last six months. He also sought a direction to the Union Ministry to establish State or regional benches of the national commission.
Representing him, Senior Counsel N.L. Rajah said the first NCBC was constituted in 1993 and about seven such commissions were constituted till 2016 when they were just legal entities without any constitutional validity. A constitutional status was given to the NCBC only on August 14, 2018.
Article 338B of the Constitution was amended through the 102nd amendment. Thereafter, the Centre constituted an NCBC on February 28, 2019, and its three-year tenure lapsed on February 28, 2022. Though nearly six months had passed since then, the next commission had not been constituted yet, he said.
Stating that the delay would lead to accumulation of unattended issues pertaining to the Other Backward Classes across the country, the petitioner sought a direction to constitute the commission at the earliest.
