Exclusion of Barak Jolhas from OBC: Gauhati High Court notice to Dispur

 STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: A division bench of the Gauhati High Court comprising Chief Justice Sandeep Mehta and Justice Susmita Phukan Khaund admitted a PIL that sought justice for the exclusion of the Jolha Community of the Barak Valley from the OBC list of the State Government.

Jolhas are tea tribes, a Mohammedan community by religion. Prior to the Indra Sahani versus the Union of India and others case in the Supreme Court of India in 1993, the people of this community were getting all the facilities of OBCs. However, post-Indra Sahani and the Union of India, leading to the formation of the NCBC (National Commission for Backward Classes) and state OBC commissions, the name of the community in the Barak Valley districts was deleted from the list of state OBC. The irony, however, is that the people belonging to the Jolha community residing in Golaghat, Jorhat, Sivasagar, Lakhimpur, Biswanath, Tinsukia, Dibrugarh, Sonitpur, Nagaon, etc. districts are still on the OBC list.

The High Court issued a notice to the state government in this regard.

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