The Andhra Pradesh High Court on Monday struck down a government order seeking to provide 59.85% reservation in local body polls for SC, ST and BC communities. The court also directed the government to come up with a new quota system not exceeding 50% reservations as per Supreme Court guidelines, within a month.
The court had earlier observed that the government had set the quota for BCs based on the 2011 census, without conducting a survey of its own. The HC bench had said that the government had failed to follow due procedure of conducting its own survey of the BC population in the state, and allowing people to raise objections before putting out the final list.
While the Advocate General argued that the quota can be increased beyond 50% under special conditions, the HC bench said that there were no special conditions in the state.
The government order which has now been struck down, had fixed the quotas at 34% for BCs, 19.08% for SCs, and 6.77% for STs, according to The Hindu. The Advocate General had argued that since the population of BCs as per 2011 Census was 48%, a quota of 34% was not unconstitutional. However, petitioners had called these claims unscientific, Bangalore Mirror reported.
A Public Interest Litigation had been filed by B Pratap Reddy in the Supreme Court against the government’s decision to have 59.85% reservations. The apex court had stayed the government order, and has asked Andhra Pradesh High Court to decide on the matter, according to The Hindu.
The opposition has accused the YSRCP government of deceiving the Backward Classes in the state, with TDP leader Bonda Umamaheswara Rao stating that the government had passed the order while being aware that it would not stand scrutiny in court, according to Times of India. On the other hand, Municipal Administration Minister Botcha Satyanarayana has blamed the TDP for the order being scrapped, alleging that the petitioner who challenged the order is an associate of TDP chief Chandrababu Naidu.
The state is expected to hold elections for local bodies soon, and stands to lose funds worth Rs 3,000 crore from the Centre if it fails to do so.