The Supreme Court has dismissed the Andhra Pradesh government’s plea against the High Court order striking down the state’s 34% reservation for Backward Classes in local body elections, clearing the way for the State Election Commission to move towards announcing the poll schedule.
A bench headed by Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu declined to interfere with the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s verdict. The Supreme Court’s decision means the state government’s Special Leave Petition challenging the High Court order has not succeeded.
The dispute concerned the scope of the power available to state legislatures under Articles 243-D(6) and 243-T(6) of the Constitution. These provisions relate to political reservation for Backward Classes in rural and urban institutions of local self-government.
The High Court had, on October 1, set aside G.O. Ms. No. 105 and G.O. Rt. No. 1065. The two government orders provided for 34% reservation for Backward Classes in rural local bodies and 33.33% reservation in urban local bodies.
The High 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 by earlier Supreme Court judgments to justify reservations beyond that limit.
The ruling directly affects the composition and electoral process of Andhra Pradesh’s panchayats and urban local bodies. Local governments are responsible for functions that shape daily urban administration, although the supplied report does not specify how the election schedule or reservation arrangements will be revised following the court’s decision.
The case also places the state’s collection and use of contemporaneous empirical material at the centre of the reservation dispute. The legal question was not only whether the state could provide political reservation for Backward Classes, but also how evidence gathered by the government should be assessed when determining the extent of such reservation in local self-government institutions.
The Supreme Court’s refusal to interfere leaves the High Court’s order in force. The decision comes as Andhra Pradesh prepares for local body elections, with the State Election Commission likely to release the election schedule by next week, according to the report.
The next formal step is expected from the State Election Commission, which will announce the timetable for the local body elections and provide details of the electoral process following the court ruling.
