The Supreme Court has dismissed the Andhra Pradesh Government’s plea against the High Court order quashing the 34% Backward Class quota in local body elections, calling the High Court’s approach very reasonable.
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New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday dismissed the special leave petition filed by the State of Andhra Pradesh against the Andhra Pradesh High Court’s judgment quashing two Government Orders that provided 34% reservation for Backward Classes in rural local bodies and 33.33% in urban local bodies, leaving the High Court’s ruling undisturbed [State of Andhra Pradesh v. Thandava Yogesh].
A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu declined to interfere after Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the State, argued that there was no reason for the High Court to reject the data relied on by the Government as unreliable.
The hearing
Justice Datta asked the State where the High Court had erred in recording that the family survey data it relied on was not relevant for fixing Backward Class reservation. The Bench pressed the State on the legal basis for the survey and on whether the data could be used for the purpose. Justice Datta told Mr. Rohatgi:
“You show us this data can be considered.”
Questioning the survey itself, the Bench asked under what law it was being carried out, before dismissing the petition and describing the High Court’s approach as very reasonable.
The High Court judgment
On October 1, 2026, a Division Bench of Chief Justice Lisa Gill and Justice Challa Gunaranjan of the Andhra Pradesh High Court set aside G.O.Ms.No.105 and G.O.Rt.No.1065, to the extent that the aggregate Scheduled Caste, Scheduled Tribe and Backward Class reservation exceeded the 50% ceiling. The petitioners in the connected public interest litigations had argued that the orders breached the ceiling laid down by the Supreme Court, beginning with Indra Sawhney.
The State defended the orders on the strength of a Unified Family Survey and the report of an Independent Dedicated Commission, contending that the aggregate reservation stood at 61.08% in Panchayat Raj Institutions and 49.24% in Urban Local Bodies. The High Court held that the survey data could not form the basis for declaring reservation for Backward Classes and that there was no empirical data of the kind required to justify reservation beyond 50%, relying on Vikas Kishanrao Gawali and Janhit Abhiyan.
The High Court left it open to the State to revisit Backward Class reservation beyond 50% after a data collection exercise that complies with Vikas Kishanrao Gawali.
Why the order matters
The dismissal leaves the High Court’s quashing of the 34% quota in place for the coming local body elections. The State’s position was that its survey and commission report justified the quota, while the High Court held that the material placed did not meet the empirical standard needed to go past the 50% limit. The Supreme Court declined to interfere with that approach.
The order also underlines that, for reservation in local bodies, the State must be able to point to contemporaneous, relevant empirical data collected under a recognised legal framework before crossing the ceiling.
Case Title: State of Andhra Pradesh v. Thandava Yogesh [SLP (C) No. 35539 of 2026]
Bench: Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Sheel Nagu, Supreme Court of India
Date of Order: October 9, 2026
Appearances: Senior Advocate Mukul Rohatgi for the State of Andhra Pradesh