Supreme Court Issues Notice On Plea Seeking OBC Reservation For Settibalija Community In Telangana

The Supreme Court on May 17 issued notice in a writ petition filed by the Telangana Settibalija Sankshema Sangham (TSSS) against the State of Telangana challenging the denial of reservation and other OBC rights to the marginalized toddy-tapper Settibalija community ever since the reorganization of Andhra Pradesh in 2014.

The petition, filed under Article 32 of the Constitution, stated that the denial of reservation resulted in the loss of education and employment opportunities to thousands of youth from the impoverished community in Telengana.

The Settibalija toddy tapper community was included in the OBC list of undivided Andhra Pradesh in 1970. The contention of the petitioners is that while there is no record of any decision being taken by the Telangana Government or the Telangana Backward Classes Commission to exclude the Settibalija toddy tapper community from the Telangana OBC list as a part of the reorganization of Andhra Pradesh, mere inadvertent documentation errors, since duly corrected, are continuing to be misused for a decade to deny OBC status to the community. The case is expected to be heard by the Apex Court in September 2024 along with appeals filed by 26 other OBC communities of undivided Andhra Pradesh from a judgment of the High Court of Telengana upholding their removal from the Telengana State OBC list. Prof. (Dr.). G. Mohan Gopal, Advocate, appeared for the Settibalija community along with Advocate D.Mahesh Babu and Advocate on Record Amit K. Nain.

Case : TELANGANA SETTIBALIJA SANKSHEMA SANGHAM VERSUS THE STATE OF TELANGANA & ORS. R |Writ Petition(s)(Civil) No(s). 315/2024