SC dismisses petition on 42% BC quota in TG

Hyderabad: Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a writ petition challenging the Telangana government’s decision to allocate 42 per cent reservation to Backward Classes (BCs) in the upcoming elections to local bodies. The SC asked the petitioner to approach the High Court for relief since similar cases are already pending in the High Court.

After a bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta showed its disinclination to hear the plea filed under Article 32 of the Constitution for the protection of fundamental rights, the counsel appearing for the petitioner withdrew it with a liberty to approach the TG High Court.

The petitioner had challenged the Government Order (GO), issued on September 26, 2025, providing a 42 per cent quota to the Backward Classes, saying it raised the total reservation in local bodies to 67 per cent. The plea claimed the GO breached the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations laid down by the court in its verdicts. The bench observed that the petitioner could not directly invoke Article 32 of the Constitution when two similar writ petitions on the same issue are already pending before the Telangana High Court.

When the petitioner’s counsel argued that the Supreme Court had previously entertained similar pleas, Justice Vikram Nath pointedly remarked, “In similar circumstances, we have also dismissed.”