Local Body Election 2025: Supreme Court Hearing on Reservation Issue Deferred to Tuesday

The Supreme Court’s:
scheduled hearing on the Local Body Elections 2025 reservation dispute in Maharashtra has been postponed. The matter, listed for hearing today, could not proceed because Justice Joymalya Bagchi was not present. The next hearing will now take place on Tuesday, 25 November.

The petition challenges the excess reservation in several municipal councils, district councils (Zilla Parishads), and Panchayat Samitis, where the total quota has crossed the constitutional limit of 50%. During the previous hearing on 17 November, the Supreme Court bench—comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi—had expressed strong dissatisfaction with the State Government’s decision to implement a blanket 27% quota for OBCs in local body elections.

What happened in the last hearing?

Due to the uniform 27% OBC reservation, the total quota in 159 local bodies has crossed permissible limits. These include:

• 17 Zilla Parishads

• 83 Panchayat Samitis

• 2 Municipal Corporations

• 57 Municipal Councils and Nagar Panchayats

The Supreme Court bench had questioned the State Government’s approach and indicated that the reservation cannot breach the 50% cap without proper empirical data and justification.

Reservation exceeding 50% in multiple districts

Despite the Maharashtra State Election Commission’s clear directions regarding reservation lotteries, several districts have crossed the legal limit. The situation is particularly concerning in tribal-dominated regions.

Here is the reservation status in some districts:

• Nandurbar: 100% reservation

• Palghar: 93%

• Gadchiroli: 78%

• Dhule: 73%

• Nashik: 72%

• Amravati, Chandrapur, Yavatmal, Akola: 60–70%

• Nagpur, Thane, Washim, Nanded, Jalgaon, Hingoli, Wardha, Buldhana: 51–60%

The excessive reservation has led to confusion for the upcoming elections, with the legality of these quotas now pending the Supreme Court’s final ruling.