Telangana HC Issues Stay on 42% Reservation for BCs, Local Body Polls; Protests Erupt

In a major setback for the Telangana government, the High Court on Thursday (October 9) issued a stay on the notification for conducting local body elections. The court also stayed Government Order (GO) No. 9, which provided 42% reservations for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections.

The court suspended the GO until further notice and directed the Congress government to file its counter-affidavit within four weeks. The petitioners were given two additional weeks to submit their objections. The next hearing is expected to take place after six weeks.

The verdict comes after the High Court heard a series of petitions challenging the legality of the enhanced BC reservation quota in local body polls. Thursday marked the second consecutive day of arguments on the issue.

On September 26, the Telangana government issued GO MS No. 9, allocating 42% reservation for BCs in the upcoming Mandal Parishad and Zilla Parishad elections. A Vacation Bench had taken up the issue on September 27 in a house motion petition, questioning both the urgency behind the order and the absence of the Governor’s assent. The matter was then posted for hearing on October 8.

The petitioners argued that increasing the BC quota from 25% to 42% would raise the overall reservation in the state to 67%, violating the Supreme Court’s 50% cap on total reservations, as established in the Indra Sawhney (Mandal Commission) judgment.

Defending the government, Advocate Ravi Varma contended that there were valid reasons to exceed the 50% limit. He stated that the Constitution does not explicitly restrict reservations to 50%, and the state government has the power to increase quotas under special circumstances.

Advocate General (AG) Sudarshan Reddy informed the court that no political party in the Assembly had opposed the Bill enhancing BC reservations. He added that if the Bill had already received the President’s assent, the state government would have issued a notification accordingly. He further argued that if the Governor fails to give approval within the stipulated period, the Bill should be considered valid under law, and there is no need for a separate notification.

The AG also noted that the Central government itself has initiated steps for a caste census, underlining the growing importance of accurate data on backward communities. He clarified that the Indra Sawhney judgment pertained to reservations in education and employment, which differ fundamentally from reservations in local body elections.

The court’s decision triggered protests outside the Telangana High Court in Hyderabad, with several community leaders and BC organizations staging demonstrations against the stay order.

Reacting to the verdict, Animal Husbandry Minister Vakiti Srihari expressed disappointment and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to implementing 42% reservations for BCs in local body polls.

“No matter how many obstacles are created, we will ensure BCs get their rightful share. The High Court’s verdict is disappointing — they are trying to snatch away what rightfully belongs to the BCs,” he said.