The Supreme Court on Monday refused to entertain a petition challenging an order issued by the Telangana government that increased reservation for Other Backward Classes in municipalities and panchayats to 42%, Live Law reported.

The increase in September 2024 had taken the total reservations in local bodies to 67%.

A bench of Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta permitted the petitioner, Vanga Gopal Reddy, to withdraw the plea and approach the High Court, Bar and Bench reported.

The petition came more than a month after the state government passed the 2025 Telangana Municipalities Third Amendment Bill and the 2025 Telangana Panchayat Raj Third Amendment Act on August 31 to lift the 50% ceiling on caste-based reservations in local bodies.

The move paved the way for 42% reservations to Backward Classes in local body polls and lifted the 50% ceiling on reservations set by the Supreme Court in 1992, bringing the total quotas for the Scheduled Castes, the Scheduled Tribes and Backward Classes in Telangana to 67%.

On September 26, the state government issued an order providing 42% reservation to Backward Classes in seats and positions in the local bodies.

In his petition against the increase in the Supreme Court, Reddy asked whether state governments could increase the total reservation of seats in local bodies to breach the 50% ceiling set by it in 1992.

The petition noted that the order issued by the Telangana government had followed an attempt by it to enact bills to enhance Backward Classes seats in local bodies by 42%.

However, the draft legislation had neither been assented to by the governor nor by the president, the petition said.

During the hearing in the Supreme Court on Monday, the bench questioned the petitioner’s decision to approach it directly instead of first moving the High Court, Live Law reported.

In response, Reddy’s counsel said that other persons had already approached the High Court, but the order had not been stayed. This prompted the petition before the Supreme Court, the counsel added.

Mehta then asked: “The High Court doesn’t grant a stay that means you come here in (Article) 32? Is this the way to exercise writ jurisdiction?”

Article 32 of the Constitution, or the right to constitutional remedies, allows any person to directly approach the Supreme Court to enforce their fundamental rights if they are violated.

In February, the Telangana government had published a caste survey, which found that Backward Classes constituted 56.3% of the population in the state. This included Muslim caste groups.

The population of Backward Classes in absolute numbers was 1.9 crore.

As per the door-to-door household survey conducted in November and December 2024, Scheduled Castes comprise 17.4%, or 61.8 lakh, of the population and Scheduled Tribes accounted for 10.4%, or 37 lakh. Other castes made up 15.7% of the population.

Muslims made up about 12.5%, or 44.5 lakh, of the population. Of this, Backward Classes Muslims accounted for 10%, or 35.7 lakh, and Other Classes of Muslims accounted for 2.4%, or 8.8 lakh.

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