Supreme Court on Thursday rejected the state government's urgent plea to lift a High Court stay on its ambitious expansion of OBC reservations in local body elections, reaffirming the sacred 50 per cent ceiling enshrined in the landmark 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment.

The controversy erupted when Chief Minister Revanth Reddy's administration, riding on a rare unanimous legislative consensus, issued orders hiking OBC quotas to 42 per cent—pushing the total reservations for SCs, STs, and OBCs to a staggering 67 per cent. This move, aimed at empowering backward communities in urban and rural polls, was swiftly challenged in the Telangana High Court, which slammed the brakes with an interim stay last month.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Congress-led government, mounted a fiery defense before Justices Vikram Nath and Sandeep Mehta. "This is a policy decision backed by a unanimous resolution of all parties. How can it be stayed without proper pleadings? The High Court order lacks reasoning beyond the first few pages," Singhvi fumed, questioning the judiciary's overreach. He further dismantled the "rigid 50 per cent myth," insisting Indra Sawhney permits breaches in "exceptional circumstances" to address historical inequities, much like recent relaxations in states like Maharashtra.

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But the bench wasn't swayed. Opposing counsel Gopal Sankaranarayanan, championing the petitioners, leaned on ironclad precedents to fortify the High Court's stance. "The order we challenged balloons reservations to over 60 per cent, flouting the 2010 K Krishna Murthy ruling by a Constitution Bench that locked in the 50 per cent cap," he argued. Sankaranarayanan invoked the Supreme Court's "triple test" for quota hikes: first, empirical data from a dedicated commission; second, data-driven proportionality; and third, the unbreakable 50 per cent barrier on combined SC/ST/OBC seats.

The High Court, led by Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice GM Mohiuddin, had meticulously dissected three government notifications—one mandating the 42 per cent OBC slice and two outlining implementation guidelines. Deeming the escalation a prima facie violation, they halted proceedings pending a full merits hearing, emphasizing that unchecked expansions could erode meritocracy and equality in public representation.

This Supreme Court snub leaves Revanth Reddy's flagship promise in limbo, igniting fresh debates on balancing affirmative action with constitutional guardrails. With local elections looming, Telangana's OBC allies may feel the pinch, while critics hail the verdict as a win for judicial restraint.

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