In a big relief to the Andhra Pradesh government headed by chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy, the Supreme Court on Wednesday cleared a major hurdle for the conduct of local body elections in the state by endorsing the upper limit of 50 per cent reservations for weaker sections.
A division bench of the Supreme Court led by Justice Arun Mishra upheld the earlier judgement of the state high court stating that the total reservations in the local bodies should not exceed 50 per cent.
The Supreme Court which heard a batch of petitions filed by the Telugu Desam Party leaders, directed that the state should stand by the earlier judgement delivered by Constitutional bench of the Supreme Court in 2010 in K Krishna Murthy vs Union of India case.
The judgement said the total percentage of reservations including those for SCs, STs and BCs should not be more than 50 per cent. It was no defended by the division bench.
The petitions were filed by TDP leaders K Ram Mohan Naidu, Kollu Ravindra, Konakalla Narayana and Palla Srinivasulu.
They argued that the government could enhance the reservations under special circumstances. But now, the SC ruled that the quota should not exceed 50 per cent.