The Allahabad High Court on Monday stayed Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government’s decision to include 17 Other Backward Classes in the Scheduled Caste list, India Today reported. The High Court said the administration had not followed due process before taking the decision, adding that it should have been first cleared in the Parliament.

The court was hearing a petition by social activist Gorakh Prasad, according to NDTV.

The Uttar Pradesh government had on June 24 directed district magistrates and commissioners to issue caste certificates to people of Kashyap, Rajbhar, Dhivar, Bind, Kumhar, Kahar, Kewat, Nishad, Bhar, Mallah, Prajapati, Dhimar, Batham, Turha, Godia, Manjhi and Machua communities.

Days later, the Centre had said the Uttar Pradesh government’s order was unconstitutional. It said only Parliament can make changes to the Scheduled Castes list. “This is not proper,” Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thawar Chand Gehlot had said in the Rajya Sabha on July 2. Gehlot said the Bharatiya Janata Party government in Uttar Pradesh should follow procedure and send a proposal to the Centre. “We would then consider it,” he said. He also warned the state of taking the matter to the court if it issued certificates based on the order.

Bahujan Samaj Party MP Satish Chandra Misra had said that his party was in favour of including the 17 castes in the Scheduled Castes list but only after following due procedure. Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati had also termed the order “unconstitutional”.

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