The Supreme Court has dismissed the Andhra Pradesh government’s plea challenging the removal of its enhanced Backward Classes reservation in local body elections, leaving the state’s 34% BC quota framework struck down ahead of the expected election schedule.
A bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu declined to interfere with the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s order, which had set aside the government notifications providing enhanced political reservation for Backward Classes in rural and urban local bodies.
The dispute concerned the scope of the powers available to state legislatures under Articles 243-D(6) and 243-T(6) of the Constitution. These provisions relate to reservation for Backward Classes in institutions of local self-government, including panchayats, municipalities and other urban local bodies.
The High Court had on October 1, 2026, set aside G.O. Ms. No. 105 and G.O. Rt. No. 1065. The notifications had provided 34% BC reservation in rural local bodies and 33.33% reservation in urban local bodies.
The court held that the combined reservation for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes exceeded the 50% ceiling. It also said that the state would need to undertake the kind of empirical exercise required under earlier Supreme Court judgments to justify reservations above that limit.
The Supreme Court’s decision means that the High Court’s findings will remain in force unless the state pursues another legally available course. The ruling places the evidentiary basis for reservation at the centre of the dispute, rather than treating the state’s enabling constitutional powers as sufficient on their own.
For urban local bodies, the decision affects the reservation structure that will determine how municipal wards and offices are allocated during the election process. The immediate administrative question is whether the State Election Commission will issue the election schedule under a revised reservation framework and how quickly the state government will complete the related notifications.
The State Election Commission is likely to release the schedule for local body elections by next week, according to the report. The timing means the court decision comes just before the formal election process is expected to begin, making the reservation issue an immediate part of the administrative preparations for municipalities and rural local bodies.
The case also illustrates the legal scrutiny surrounding political reservation in local governments. The courts have required states seeking to provide reservations beyond established limits to support the decision with contemporaneous empirical material and a process capable of demonstrating the need for the additional quota.
The next milestone is the State Election Commission’s expected announcement of the local body election schedule. The state’s reservation notifications and the election process will determine how the Supreme Court ruling is implemented across Andhra Pradesh’s rural and urban local governments.
