Revanth Takes BC Quota War to SC

Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will leave for Delhi on Tuesday to consult legal experts and discuss filing a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court against the Telangana High Court’s interim orders staying the 42 per cent quota for Backward Classes (BCs) communities in local body elections.

Official sources said the state government had resolved to challenge the High Court’s order without delay, as the Chief Minister was keen on protecting the government’s decision to ensure enhanced political representation for the BC community. Revanth Reddy will meet senior advocates Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Siddharth Dave in Delhi to finalise the legal strategy.

While staying the GO 9 issued to implement the 42 per cent BC quota on October 8, the High Court had granted four weeks to the state government to file counter-affidavits and two additional weeks for petitioners to submit rejoinders, after which final hearings would be held. However, the Chief Minister has decided not to wait for the six-week process and to approach the apex court directly.

Revanth Reddy has directed government lawyers to present strong arguments in defence of the legal and constitutional validity of GO 9. He wants them to highlight in the court that the government’s decision was based on a comprehensive caste survey and empirical data collected across Telangana to assess BC representation in politics.

The Chief Minister will ask lawyers to argue that a Dedicated BC Commission was constituted to examine this data scientifically and that the Commission’s report established the political backwardness of BCs, leading to the recommendation for 42 per cent reservations in local bodies. He also wanted the legal team to explain before the Supreme Court the rationale behind issuing GO 9.

Further, Revanth Reddy wanted lawyers to inform the Supreme Court that another Bill amending the Telangana Panchayat Raj Act, 2018 — intended to lift the 50 per cent overall reservation cap to facilitate a 42 BC quota — was passed in July but has also been held up by the Governor and the Centre for over two months.

Citing these delays, the Chief Minister wanted lawyers to argue that the Telangana government was compelled to issue GO 9 to implement the BC quota in time for local body elections. He also asked lawyers to request the Supreme Court to take note of the Governor and President keeping Telangana’s BC quota Bills pending for over six months, contrary to the Supreme Court verdict in the Tamil Nadu case.