HYDERABAD: Justice Surepalli Nanda of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the state government to establish a dedicated commission within two weeks to conduct a thorough empirical data survey to facilitate reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in the upcoming local body elections and submit a compliance report.
The court found the state’s existing approach of tasking the BC Commission with data collection contrary to the Supreme Court’s judgment in ‘Vikas Kumar Gavali vs. State of Maharashtra’.
In its ruling, the Supreme Court had mandated that a distinct commission must be constituted specifically for empirical data collection related to reservations for backward classes.
Justice Nanda was hearing a writ petition filed by former Rajya Sabha member and BC leader R Krishniah who urged the court to order a dedicated commission, separate from the BC Commission, for this purpose.
Representing the petitioner, senior counsel and former advocate-general BS Prasad underscored the importance of the court’s intervention, given that the BC Commission had already begun the process of data collection across Telangana as local body elections approach.