Major setback to Congress Govt as Telangana HC stays local body polls
The Telangana High Court stayed the local body election process, questioning the State’s move to raise BC reservation from 23 to 42 per cent. The court directed the government to file its counter within four weeks and will hear the case after six weeks.
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.
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 G M Mohiuddin directed the government to file 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.
The arguments, which went on for two days, 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 Supreme Court judgments starting from the Indra Sawhney case to the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali case. The 50 per cent cap, laid down as one of the triple tests by the apex court, cannot be breached, the petitioners argued. They also contended that GO 9 violated the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018, which capped the total reservation at 50 per cent.
The State, on the other hand, relied heavily on the empirical data collected during the Socio-Economic, Education, Employment, Political and Caste (SEEEPC) survey. It argued that the BC population, which is about 57 per cent in the State, created an extraordinary circumstance forming the basis for enhancing the reservation. The State’s counsel further argued that Supreme Court judgments do not impose an absolute ceiling in such exceptional cases.
The government also contended that the ordinance amending the reservation was valid and that the pending assent from the Governor on the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act amendment bill was no impediment to implementing the enhanced BC quota in the local body elections. The court heard both sides extensively before issuing the interim order. The detailed reasoned order explaining the stay is awaited.
