AP to move SC against HC verdict on 34% BC quota

Amaravati: The Andhra Pradesh government is set to challenge in the Supreme Court the High Court verdict striking down its orders providing enhanced 34 per cent reservation for Backward Classes (BCs) in local body elections, with Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directing the Advocate General and legal department officials to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) at the earliest. The petition is expected to be filed either on Saturday or Monday. Naidu held consultations with legal experts in Delhi on Friday and directed the government to engage senior advocates to argue the case on behalf of the Panchayat Raj and Municipal Administration departments.

The move follows the October 1 judgment of a division bench headed by Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan of AP High Court, which set aside G.O. 105 providing 34 per cent BC reservation in rural local bodies and G.O. 1065 providing 33.33 per cent in urban local bodies. The court held that the combined reservations for SCs, STs and BCs exceeded the 50 per cent ceiling laid down in Supreme Court precedents.

The High Court also found that the data relied upon by the state, including the Unified Family Survey, did not satisfy the requirements for determining BC political reservations under the Supreme Court's Vikas Kishanrao Gawali framework. The court said the state would have to undertake the prescribed empirical exercise before revisiting the issue.

The government had relied on the Rajeev Ranjan Mishra Commission and survey data while fixing the quota. During the hearing, however, the High Court had questioned the state over relying on a commission report that had not been made public and sought details of the data forming the basis for the 34 per cent quota.

The legal challenge now puts the 50 per cent reservation ceiling and the adequacy of empirical data at the centre of the dispute. The Supreme Court's earlier judgments require states seeking local body reservations for BCs to satisfy the prescribed conditions, including a dedicated commission's empirical inquiry and compliance with the overall reservation ceiling.

At the same time, the High Court has directed the state government and State Election Commission to initiate the local body election process within six weeks. The terms of several local bodies had already expired in March and April 2026.

The Supreme Court proceedings could therefore have a direct bearing on the timetable and structure of the forthcoming local body elections. Any change to that position would depend on the orders passed by the apex court after the state files its appeal.

The government has maintained that it remains committed to its 34 per cent BC reservation promise, making the Supreme Court challenge both a significant legal contest and a politically important test for the coalition government.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

K Varaprasada Rao

K Varaprasada Rao[email protected]

K Varaprasada Rao is a Senior Reporter with The Hans India, covering the Andhra Pradesh Secretariat, Chief Minister's Office (CMO), State Legislative Assembly, Legislative Council and political affairs. With over 20 years of experience in journalism in Andhra Pradesh, he has extensively reported on governance, public policy, politics, and socio-economic issues that shape the state's development and influence the country's evolving landscape. He holds a postgraduate degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. His reporting focuses on finance, industries, irrigation, agriculture, infrastructure, investment, public administration, and political developments, with a particular interest in analysing their long-term economic and social impact.

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