Supreme Court rejects Telangana BC reservation challenge
The top court on Monday refused to consider a petition that questioned the Telangana government’s recent move to raise Backward Class (BC) reservations in local bodies to 42 %.
The case was brought under Article 32, the constitutional right to approach the Supreme Court for protection of fundamental rights. Petitioner advocate Somiran Sharma argued that the new reservations push the total of Scheduled Castes (SC), Scheduled Tribes (ST) and BC seats above the 50 % ceiling set by earlier Supreme Court rulings.
Supreme Court‑bench questions the petition
Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta, who heard the petition, told the petitioner that the Telangana High Court is scheduled to hear similar cases next Wednesday. “If the High Court does not grant a stay, you’ll come here under Article 32,” Justice Nath remarked.
Seeing the court’s reluctance to entertain the plea, the petitioner was allowed to withdraw the writ as a bare plea under Article 32, freeing the state to pursue relief in the Telangana High Court.
Why the order was challenged
The Telangana government issued G.O. Ms. 09 on 26 September, boosting BC reservations in local bodies to 42 %. With SC and ST quotas already at 15 % and 10 % respectively, the combined reservation climbs to more than 67 %, breaching the 50 % ceiling that the Supreme Court has long upheld. Section 285A of the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, codifies that ceiling.
Petitioners said the state failed to complete the “triple test” the Supreme Court requires for any OBC reservation in local bodies:
- A dedicated commission must perform a thorough empirical study.
- Each local body must specify its reservation quota based on that study.
- The total SC + ST + OBC reservation must stay under 50 %.
They argued that the state relied on a single commission report that was neither published to the public nor debated in the legislature. The petition also contended that the government’s reference to Articles 243D(6) and 243T(6) of the Constitution ignores the 50 % ceiling imposed by court rulings, notably the 2023 K. Krishna Murthy case.
Next steps
With the Supreme Court dismissing the writ, the petitioner may now file a fresh application in the Telangana High Court. The High Court is expected to hear the matter on Wednesday. For now, the 42 % BC reservation remains unchanged in Telangana’s local bodies, pending any decision from the state court.
Source: ianslive
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