Andhra HC sets aside 33% reservation for BCs in local body polls

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The Andhra Pradesh High Court on October 1 set aside the state government’s move to reserve one-third of the seats in local bodies for Backward Classes (BCs), saying they exceed the 50% ceiling on reservations laid down by the Supreme Court. 

A division bench led by Chief Justice Lisa Gill and comprising Justice Challa Gunaranjan also instructed the state government and the State Election Commission (SEC) to initiate the process of conducting elections to gram panchayats, mandal praja parishads, zilla praja parishads, and urban local bodies, within six weeks. 

The terms of the previously elected local bodies in Andhra Pradesh ended in March and April 2026. In August, the state government had issued two separate Government Orders (GOs), providing 33.33% reservation for BCs in elections to municipal corporations, municipalities and nagar panchayats, and 34% reservation for BCs in elections to gram panchayats, mandal praja parishads and zilla praja parishads.

The High Court struck down these GOs and also said that empirical data collected based on the government’s Unified Family Survey (UFS), a doorstep data collection drive, cannot form the basis for BC reservation, The Hindu reported. 

The court, however, said that the government can revisit the issue after collecting data on the socio-economic and political status of BC communities in accordance with the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Vikas Kishanrao Gawali case, which sets a triple test to ensure the lawful implementation of OBC reservations. It also asked the government to keep in view the Janhit Abhiyan v. Union of India case or the EWS Reservation case which provided 10% reservation to economically weaker sections. 

The triple test says the government must do three things to finalise OBC reservations in local bodies – establish a dedicated commission to conduct a detailed empirical inquiry into the backwardness of communities specific to local bodies, specify the proportion of reservation to be provided local body-wise, and ensure that the total reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs do not exceed 50% of the total seats in local bodies.