HYDERABAD: The Telangana government is likely to move the Supreme Court challenging the high court’s interim stay on the implementation of GO No 9, which raised reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) to 42% in local body elections and simultaneously put the election process on hold.
Following the high court’s order, the state government has sought legal advice from senior Supreme Court advocates, and a final decision on filing an appeal in the apex court is expected on Friday.
A Satya Prasad, former additional advocate general of united Andhra Pradesh, told TNIE that the state’s best legal option would be to approach the Supreme Court and seek vacation of the stay. He pointed out that the high court’s intervention came after the State Election Commission had already issued the election notification, which, according to previous Supreme Court rulings, is not permissible except in exceptional circumstances.
Commenting on the 42% BC reservation issue, Satya Prasad observed: “In states like Tamil Nadu, the total reservations exceed 50%. The Supreme Court, in certain cases, has permitted relaxation of the 50% ceiling, subject to specific conditions being satisfied.”
Meanwhile, political observers noted that if the Supreme Court declines to lift the stay, the government might consider convening an all-party meeting to evolve a consensus on allocating 42% of party tickets to BCs as an alternative measure.
