Supreme Court Lifts Stay on Himachal Decision to Shift OBC Commission to Dharamshala

The Supreme Court on Monday set aside an interim order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court that had put on hold the state government’s decision to shift the headquarters of the OBC Commission from Shimla to Dharamshala.

A bench headed by Chief Justice Surya Kant, along with Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria, observed that decisions relating to the location of government offices are typically matters of policy and do not ordinarily warrant judicial interference.

At the same time, the court asked the high court to proceed with examining the petition after taking into account the reply of the Congress-led Himachal Pradesh government. The state has been given four weeks to file its response.

The interim stay had been granted on January 9 by the high court while hearing a public interest litigation filed by Ram Lal Sharma. The petition challenged the state government’s January 7 decision to relocate the Commission’s headquarters to Dharamshala, while continuing to operate a camp office for the Chairman in Shimla.