HC: SEC ‘would’ hold polls with 50% open seats
Hyderabad: The state government will file a special leave petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court on Monday, challenging the interim order of the Telangana High Court that stayed the government order on the enhancement of reservations to the Backward Classes communities to 42 per cent in the local body elections.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy directed officials concerned on Saturday to take up the case in the apex court after holding discussions with senior officials and legal experts. Trying hard for a relief from the apex court has become all the more important as the High Court did not stall the election, according to the orders which became available on Saturday.
Congress sources told Deccan Chronicle that the government was also in favour of going ahead with the 50 per cent cap if the apex court did not grant any relief.
Legal experts were of the view that the Supreme Court might not go into the merits of the case and would probably refuse to intervene with the High Court’s interim order. “With the HC relying heavily on the triple test recommended by the Supreme Court, which, apart from others, insists on a 50 per cent cap, we are not hopeful of a final verdict in our favour. We do not want to drag the process by waiting for the final verdict and then approaching the SC,” a senior minister told Deccan Chronicle.
Depriving the government of strong grounds to argue in the Supreme Court that the High Court had stalled the election process post issuance of the poll notification, the High Court division bench led by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh categorically stated, according to the final order that became available on Saturday, that the State Election Commission “would” proceed with elections to local bodies by declaring seats above 50 per cent as open category,
Highly placed sources told Deccan Chronicle that the government would immediately go ahead with elections with the 50 per cent cap if it failed to get relief from the apex court. “Though it is not binding on us to hold elections immediately, and we can wait till the final case is disposed of, the political top brass are in favour of holding polls,” sources pointed out.
The Congress has the fall-back option of its previously announced decision that it would nominate 42 per cent of the candidates from the Backward Classes communities in the event of the polls being held with the current quota levels.
The government, however, was of the view that the HC did not direct the state to continue with election process with 50 per cent cap but left it with a choice by not stalling the elections. “The earlier direction to complete the process (of local body elections) by September 30 also will not hold in view the many developments that took place in the recent past,” sources said.
The Cabinet will meet soon after the outcome of SLP in the Supreme Court and recommend to the Dedicated Commission to fix fresh reservations for the BC communities within the 50 per cent ceiling.
