The Supreme Court delivered a major setback to the Telangana government by dismissing its petition seeking to increase Backward Classes (BC) reservations to 42% in local body elections. A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta heard the matter and ruled that elections should proceed under existing reservations.
The Telangana government had challenged a High Court stay on GO No. 9, which proposed the increase in BC quotas. During arguments, the state cited the concept of “deemed assent” after the Governor kept the Bill pending, and highlighted a comprehensive household socio-economic survey to justify the higher quota.
However, the Supreme Court emphasized that reservations in general areas cannot exceed 50%, referencing prior judgments such as the Krishnamurthy and Gawali cases. The bench was unconvinced that Telangana met the conditions for exceeding the limit, including the triple-test criteria, despite the socio-economic data presented.
Justice Mehta clarified that exemptions for exceeding the 50% ceiling apply only to Scheduled Areas and tribal regions, which Telangana does not have. Consequently, the petition was dismissed, and the court directed the state to proceed with elections under the current quota structure.
This verdict aligns Telangana with states like Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh, where similar attempts to raise reservations beyond the 50% limit were also rejected.
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