The Supreme Court today issued a stern warning to the Maharashtra government, stating it will halt the upcoming local municipality elections if the 50% reservation limit is violated. The warning came as the scrutiny of nomination papers began.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and Jaymala Bagchi heard the matter, which relates to the implementation of reservation for the OBC category.
Senior advocates argued that the 50% ceiling had been crossed in several municipalities, with some constituencies seeing reservation reach up to 70%, violating the court's May 6 order that mandated adherence to the Bathinda Commission report of July 2022.
The court made it clear that reservation, including for the OBC category, cannot be allowed to exceed the 50% limit, emphasizing that any non-compliance will lead to the immediate stoppage of the electoral process.