Hyderabad – The Telangana High Court has affirmed that the 50 per cent reservation ceiling set by the Supreme Court applies to local body polls, and any quota increase for OBCs should be within the framework of the“triple test”.

The Supreme Court's triple test is a framework for providing reservations for Other Backward Classes (OBCs) in local body elections, requiring states to form a commission to collect data, specify the reservation proportion based on the commission's findings, and ensure the total reservation for SCs, STs, and OBCs does not exceed 50 per cent of the total seats.

A detailed order copy was uploaded on the Telangana High Court website on Friday night.

While issuing an interim stay against a Government Order providing 42 per cent BC reservation in local body polls on October 9, the High Court said the State Election Commission would notify the proportionate seats as open category seats and proceed with the elections.

“We are, therefore, of the prima facie view that the respondents/State have failed to adhere to the criteria of 50 per cent upper ceiling as laid down by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in Vikas Kishanrao Gawali (supra) by issuance of Ms.9, dated 26.09.2025, whereby 42 per cent reservation has been provided to the OBCs in the local bodies, thereby breaching the ceiling of 50 per cent to a total of 67 per cent reservation in local bodies,” the court said in its order.

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