Telangana local body polls: SC dismisses plea against 42 pc BC reservation

Hyderabad: In a major boost to the Telangana government’s 42 percent Backward Classes reservation for the local body elections the Supreme Court on Monday, October 6, dismissed a petition seeking a stay on the same.

The portioners were given the liberty to approach the Telangana High Court in this mater. A bench comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta observed that the petitioner could not directly invoke Article 32 of theConstitution when two similar writ petitions on the same issue were already pending before the Telangana High Court.

When the petitioner’s counsel argued that the Supreme Court had earlier entertained similar pleas, Justice Vikram Nath pointedly remarked, “In similar circumstances, we have also dismissed.”

Also Read

BC reservations: Telangana prepares to put forth strong arguments in SC

The bench asked why the petitioners had not pursued their case before the High Court, to which counsel responded that the matter was listed on October 8 but no interim stay had been granted. Rejecting the plea for a stay, the Supreme Court made it clear that the High Court was the proper forum to adjudicate the matter.

With this dismissal, the Telangana High Court’s hearing on October 8 will now be crucial in determining the fate of the enhanced BC quota in local body elections.

Earlier on Monday, Deputy chief minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Vakiti Srihari, who rushed to Delhi on Sunday night, held talks with senior lawyers Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Siddharth Dave on Monday.

Singhvi, who is also a Rajya Sabha member from Telangana and Dave are likely to appear on behalf of the state government in the Supreme Court and defend the move to provide 42 per cent reservations to Backward Classes (BCs) in local bodies.

Government lawyer Shravan Kumar and Congress BC Cell chairman Anil Jaihind also attended the meeting. The Deputy CM and ministers explained to the lawyers that the government issued the GO for 42 per cent reservations for BCs in local bodies by duly following the guidelines laid down by the Supreme Court.

They also told the lawyers that the GO was issued after conducting the caste survey, obtaining the empirical data of the BCs, appointment of a dedicated BC Commission and expert group’s analysis of the caste survey report. The Supreme Court is set to take up for hearing a batch of petitions challenging the Government Order.

The petitions were filed by Reddy Jagruthi leader B Madhava Reddy and Vanga Gopal Reddy.

With inputs from IANS

Get the latest updates in Hyderabad City News, Technology, Entertainment, Sports, Politics and Top Stories on WhatsApp & Telegram by subscribing to our channels. You can also download our app for Android and iOS.