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Hyderabad, Oct.16(PMI): In a significant blow to the Congress government in Telangana, the Supreme Court rejected its request on Thursday to contest the Telangana High Court’s interim stay on the implementation of a 42 percent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections.
The State government has been instructed to proceed with the elections without reservations. A panel of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta stated that the High Court should evaluate the main case based on its merits, unaffected by the Supreme Court’s dismissal of the State’s appeal.
As reported by the legal portal Live Law, Justice Nath raised concerns about why the quota was not implemented prior to the poll announcement. Senior Advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the State, explained that the Bill had been on hold due to the Governor and was in effect by way of deemed assent. The bench, however, remained unconvinced, pointing to previous rulings that limited reservations to 50 percent and highlighted the necessity of satisfying triple-test criteria before increasing quotas in local bodies. As the hearing came to a close, the court stated, “You may proceed with your elections without reservations… dismissed.”
With the Supreme Court refusing to hear on the special leave petition (SLP) on the implementation of 42 percent reservation for Backward Classes, the roads are now closed for Chief Minister Revanth Reddy and the Congress government in Telangana.
Meanwhile, the ruling party leaders’ opinion is that there is no other option now except to give 42 percent to the BCs under the party quota and go for the local body elections.(pressmediaofindia.com)
