The Telangana High Court has directed the state government to provide a timeline for complying with the Supreme Court’s triple test requirements before reserving seats for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local bodies.
The division bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J. Sreenivas Rao, issued the directive during a hearing on Tuesday.
Advocate General A Sudharshan Reddy has been instructed to inform the court about the status of compliance with the Supreme Court’s orders and to specify how much additional time is needed to meet these requirements, by August 27.
The bench was addressing a batch of petitions filed in 2018 and 2019 by Jajula Srinivas Goud, Dasoju Sravan Kumar, and others. The petitioners challenged the continuation of the local body election process without undertaking a fresh exercise to identify politically backward class citizens, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s judgment in K Krishnamurthy vs. Union of India.
During the arguments, senior counsel Kowuturu Pavan Kumar, representing Dasoju Sravan Kumar, highlighted that in 2021, the SC outlined the triple test conditions in the case of Vikas Kishanrao Gawali vs. the State of Maharashtra. These conditions must be met for finalising OBC reservations in local body elections.
Govt developing green spaces, AAG tells HC
Additional Advocate General (AAG) Mohammed Imran Khan on Tuesday informed the Telangana High Court about the state’s ongoing efforts to maintain and develop public parks and green spaces in urban areas. A division bench, comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao, was hearing a PIL filed seeking direction to ensure the adequate maintenance of existing public parks and green spaces across Telangana and calls for the identification and demarcation of land for the development of new parks within a fixed timeframe.
In his submission, the AAG highlighted the state’s significant tree plantation efforts, noting that 77,87,561 saplings were planted during 2022-23 and 72,28,127 saplings have so far been planted in 2023-24. He further stated that the maintenance of parks is being managed by both the state government and local bodies.
To support his claims, the AAG presented various photographs of parks and landscaped areas. He also requested the court grand time to file a detailed affidavit regarding the plantation activities and the action plan for the maintenance of planted trees. While considering his request, the court adjourned the matter to August 12 for further hearing.