Major setback for Congress govt as Telangana High Court stays local body polls

The Telangana High Court granted an interim stay on local body elections, following petitions challenging the enhancement of Backward Classes reservation from 23% to 42% through GO No. 9. The State has four weeks to file a counter

Hyderabad: In a major setback to the Congress government, the Telangana High Court on Thursday temporarily stayed the process of local body elections across the State after taking strong note of petitions challenging the enhancement of Backward Classes (BC) reservation from 23 per cent to 42 per cent through Government Order (GO) No. 9, issued on September 26.

It may be recalled that the State government had released a notification on September 29, announcing the schedule for conducting local body elections in five phases across the State. The Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin directed the State government to submit its counter within four weeks, while the petitioners were granted two weeks thereafter to file their replies, observing that the interim stay shall operate till such time.

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The arguments, which went on over two days at the initial stage, concluded on Thursday evening. The petitioners’ contentions were primarily based on the breach of the ceiling limit of 50 per cent on reservations, in violation of the Supreme Court judgments beginning with Indra Sawhney and followed in the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali case. The cap of 50 per cent, laid down as one of the triple test requirements by the apex court, cannot be breached, the petitioners argued. Further, the petitioners contended that GO No. 9 violated the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, which also caps reservations at 50 per cent.

The State, on the other hand, heavily relied on the empirical data collected during the Socio-Economic, Education, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey, arguing that the BC population, which is about 57 per cent in the State, creates an extraordinary circumstance forming the basis for enhancement of the reservation. The State’s counsel argued that the Supreme Court judgments do not create an absolute ceiling and allow exceptions in extraordinary cases.

Advocate General A Sudarshan Reddy, appearing for the State, contended that the fixation of 42 per cent reservation cannot be faulted as it is based on scientific empirical data. He further submitted that the President’s assent was not required, since reservations for local self-governments fall under List II of the Seventh Schedule of the Constitution, giving the State legislative competence. He also argued that the 50 per cent limit set in Indra Sawhney cannot be made applicable to political reservations if backed by empirical data, as observed in the Krishnamurthy judgment.

Senior Counsel Prof Ravi Varma Kumar, appearing for the State, submitted that there was no violation of any fundamental right of the petitioners, as there was no express right to vote in the Constitution. He further contended that there was no constitutional basis behind the 50 per cent ceiling limit set by the Supreme Court in its landmark precedents.

After hearing the submissions made by the State, the court granted an interim stay on GO Ms. No. 9 of 2025 and directed the State to file its counter within four weeks. Thereafter, two weeks were given to the petitioners to file their replies. The court also allowed all implead petitions.

The detailed order of the court explaining the reasons for granting the interim stay on the local body election process is awaited.