Hyderabad, Feb 19: The Supreme Court on Monday gave the go-ahead to the state government and the State Election Commission to conduct elections to the Panchayat Raj local bodies according to the existing quotas of reservation for OBCs, SCs and STs.
The state government had reserved 34 per cent seats for Backward Classes, 18.3 per cent for Scheduled Castes and 8.5 per cent for Scheduled Tribes in the elections to the PR bodies in 1994 and 2006. The quota in all added up to 60.8 per cent.
However, on September 4, 2012, the AP High Court had scrapped the reservations, holding that reservations for BCs, SCs and STs in Panchayat Raj local bodies should not exceed the upper ceiling of 50 per cent (quantitative limitation).
The High Court had directed that for the present elections, the state should lower the BC quota so that the total reservation comes down to 50 per cent. It also directed the State Election Commission to start the election process immediately and complete the polls within three months from the date of finalisation of the reservation percentage by the state government.
Following this, the state government moved a Special Leave Petition before the apex court.
On Monday, a two-member Bench comprising Supreme Court Justices P. Sathasivam and Jagadish Singh Khehar heard both the parties and granted an interim direction to go ahead with the elections as per the existing system.
The Bench stayed the directions of the High Court regarding not exceeding the upper ceiling of 50 per cent as all parties in the petition had agreed that the elections may proceed as per the existing system.
The term of urban local bodies ended in September 2010 and that of Panchayati Raj institutions in July 2011. Since then they have been under the rule of special officers in the absence of elected councils. Since the polls had not been held, the Centre had stopped release of statutory grants to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore.
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