The Telangana government has faced a setback in the Supreme Court, which has dismissed its special leave petition regarding Backward Class (BC) reservations. The Supreme Court’s bench, comprising Justice Vikram Nath and Justice Sandeep Mehta, instructed that the matter should be resolved within the High Court, although they indicated that the next hearing will proceed. Importantly, the bench stated that elections can continue under the existing reservation framework.

During the heated proceedings, Abhishek Manu Singhvi, representing the Telangana state government, argued that there is a consensus among all parties regarding BC reservations in the state. Singhvi contended that the notion that the cap on reservations must not exceed 50% is misguided and referenced previous judgments, including the Indira Sawhney case, which support the provision of reservations based on comprehensive data.

Earlier, the High Court of Telangana has granted stay on the 42 percent reservation on BC reservations and halted the GO 9. The government has moved Supreme Court where it has faced the backlash in the apex court leaving the state government in doldrums.

It remains to be seen how the state government would react to this situation.