New Delhi, February 9 The Supreme Court on Monday overturned an interim order of the Himachal Pradesh High Court that had stayed the state government's decision to relocate the OBC commission from Shimla to Dharamshala.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justices Joymalya Bagchi and N V Anjaria said that such issues relate to policy decisions and generally do not fall under the purview of the judiciary.
However, the bench asked the high court to decide on the plea against the relocation of the state OBC panel after taking note of the response from the Congress-led state government.
It allowed the state government to file its response in the high court within four weeks.
The bench said that its observations were primarily related to the granting of the interim order and would not affect the final decision of the case.
Initially, the bench said that ordinarily, the OBC population resides in Kangra and other adjoining areas, and such decisions are usually taken "in the public interest" and are generally not justiciable.
Earlier, the high court, on January 9, had stayed the state government's decision to relocate the office of the Himachal Pradesh State Commission for Backward Classes from Shimla to Dharamshala.
The high court had said that the matter required closer judicial scrutiny.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice G S Sandhawalia and Justice Ankit had passed the interim order while hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by Ram Lal Sharma, challenging the state's decision of January 7.
The plea challenged the government's decision to relocate the Commission's headquarters from Shimla to Dharamshala, District Kangra, while retaining the Shimla office as a camp office for the Chairman.