The Andhra Pradesh High Court has directed the State government and State Election Commission to begin the process for local body elections within six weeks after quashing two government orders that provided 34 per cent reservation for Backward Classes in the state. The court ruled that total reservations must remain within the 50 per cent ceiling prescribed by the Supreme Court.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan advised the government to review the BC reservation and align it with earlier Supreme Court judgments. The court said BC reservation could be provided within the 50 per cent ceiling after the State collected empirical data in accordance with the judgments in the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali and Janhit Abhiyan cases.
The court held that the empirical data collected through the State government’s unified family survey was not valid for justifying reservation beyond the ceiling. It observed that the government had not produced scientifically generated data to support reservations exceeding 50 per cent.
The ruling affects elections to gram panchayats, municipalities and municipal corporations. The court noted that the terms of the elected councils and panchayats in the State had ended in March and April. It said the State Election Commission was responsible for conducting the elections and directed it to initiate the process within six weeks.
The court also ruled that the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls being undertaken by the Election Commission of India would not prevent local body elections from being held. It said the elections could use electoral rolls available as on the eligible date and that existing rolls could not be discarded merely because the revision exercise was under way.
During the proceedings, senior counsel for the petitioner said there was no intention to stall the elections if the statutory requirements were followed. These include provisions under Section 11 of the Andhra Pradesh Panchayat Raj Act, 1994, the Andhra Pradesh Municipalities Act, 1965, and Section 12 of the Municipal Corporations Act, 1995. Counsel for the State Election Commission assured the court that the requirements would be complied with.
The court said there was therefore no reason to delay the initiation of the election process for rural and urban local bodies. It did not examine the legality of the Rajiv Ranjan Commission, which was constituted to confirm BC reservation, because its formation had not been challenged in the petition.
The bench dismissed a public interest litigation filed by Andhra Pradesh BC Welfare Union president Kesana Sankara Rao, which sought to defer the elections until a BC census was conducted. It also dismissed a separate petition seeking postponement until the completion of BC sub-categorisation. The next procedural step is for the State Election Commission and government to begin the election process within the six-week period directed by the court.
