HYDERABAD: The Cabinet sub-committee, constituted by the state government to examine implementation of 42 per cent reservations for BCs in local bodies, has decided to seek the views and advice of former Supreme Court Judge Justice B Sudershan Reddy and other leading legal experts in Delhi on Monday.
It may be mentioned here that Justice B Sudershan Reddy is the INDIA bloc pick for the Vice-Presidential election.
As the government has already appointed two senior advocates to represent the state in the “Assent, withholding or reservation of bills by the governor and the President of India” case in Supreme Court, it is also likely to seek legal opinion on arguments to be put forth by Telangana in this case.
On Sunday, the Cabinet sub-committee met at Praja Bhavan under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka. Committee members, including ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Sridhar Babu, and Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy were present on the occasion, while minister Ponnam Prabhakar virtually joined the meeting.
During the meeting, the Cabinet sub-committee sought the opinion of Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy on how to ensure the provision of 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local body elections, without facing any legal complications.
Fulfilling poll promise
The committee recalled that Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi had promised to conduct a caste census to the people of Telangana before the elections.
In line with that pre-election promise, the state government officially carried out the caste census, the panel added.
The committee stated that the empirical data from the socio-economic, education, employment, political and caste survey was presented in the Assembly and a bill providing 42 per cent reservation for BCs in local bodies was introduced and passed unanimously in the House.
The bill was then sent to the Governor, it said, adding: “From the Governor, the bill was forwarded to the President of India, where it has now been pending for the past five months. Meanwhile, the high court has directed that local body elections must be conducted by September 30.”