Supreme Court rejects Andhra Pradesh appeal over local election quotas

India's Supreme Court dismissed Andhra Pradesh's appeal on October 9 against the cancellation of Backward Classes quotas in local elections. The High Court's judgment remains in force.

The challenged government orders provided 34% reservation for Backward Classes in rural local bodies and 33.33% in urban bodies. The High Court set them aside because total reservations exceeded the 50% ceiling.

Justices Dipankar Datta and Sheel Nagu heard the state's challenge. Court reporters said the bench considered the High Court's approach reasonable.

Government counsel Mukul Rohatgi argued that there was no basis for rejecting the data used to calculate the quotas as unreliable. Datta asked him to explain where the High Court had erred and the relevance of the Unified Family Survey figures.

The court agreed that empirical data had not justified breaching the 50% ceiling laid down in the 1992 Indra Sawhney v. Union of India judgment. The state's attempt to restore the enhanced quotas through its appeal therefore failed.