HYDERABAD/NEW DELHI : In a setback to the state government, the Supreme Court on Thursday refused to interfere with the Telangana High Court’s interim stay on Government Order (GO) 9, which raised BC reservations in local body elections from 25% to 42%, taking the total quota to 67%.
A bench of justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta dismissed the state’s Special Leave Petition (SLP) challenging the HC’s order. The apex court said the State Election Commission (SEC) could go ahead with the polls based on the existing reservation pattern, as it stood before GO 9.
It also directed the high court to decide the main petition on its merits, without being influenced by the observations made during the SLP hearing.
The bench questioned the state on the timing of the hike in quotas. “If they are increasing reservations here (for BCs), they have to reduce for other categories,” it said, pointing out that the 50% cap on reservations cannot be breached.
Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the state, said the move followed a unanimous Assembly resolution and the Governor’s consent. “Such unanimity is rare in today’s politics. But in the Telangana High Court, we were heard without pleadings and orders were passed, leaving the state aggrieved,” he argued.
Meanwhile, senior advocate Gopal Sankarnarayan submitted that as per the apex court’s landmark ruling on the subject, increasing reservations beyond 50% is allowed only in exceptional circumstances to Scheduled Tribe (ST) communities in Fifth Schedule states, adding that Telangana’s move also violated the ‘triple test’ for fixing political reservations for BCs in local bodies.
On October 9, the Telangana HC had stayed the GO and asked the state to file its counter-affidavit within two weeks. Following the stay, the SEC put the local body election process on hold pending further directions.