Vikas Kishanrao Gawali v State of Maharashtra
Rule established
Reservation of seats for backward classes in local bodies must satisfy a triple test: a dedicated Commission must conduct a contemporaneous empirical inquiry, the State must specify the proportion in the light of its recommendations, and the aggregate reservation with Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes must not exceed fifty per cent.
Facts
- Maharashtra law provided for reservation of twenty seven per cent of the seats in Zilla Parishads, Panchayat Samitis and other local bodies for other backward classes.
- The figure had been fixed as a general percentage and was applied uniformly, without any inquiry directed to backwardness in the context of representation in local bodies.
- In several districts the population of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes was high, so the mandatory reservation for them was correspondingly large.
- The addition of a flat twenty seven per cent for other backward classes therefore took the aggregate reservation in those districts beyond fifty per cent of the total seats.
- No dedicated Commission had been constituted to examine the question, and no contemporaneous empirical data had been collected.
- Candidates and voters challenged notifications issued on that basis, relying on K Krishna Murthy v Union of India (2010).
Issue
- What conditions must be satisfied before a State may reserve seats for backward classes in local bodies, and what is the consequence of reservation made without satisfying them?
Held
- The reservation was invalid so far as it exceeded the permissible limits, and the Court laid down a triple test. First, the State must appoint a dedicated Commission to conduct a rigorous and contemporaneous empirical inquiry into the nature and implications of backwardness specifically in relation to local bodies, since Arts.243D(6) and 243T(6) address inadequacy of representation and not backwardness generally. Second, the State must specify the proportion of reservation required, local body by local body, in the light of that Commission's recommendations; a uniform figure applied across the State does not satisfy the requirement. Third, the reservation for backward classes must be so fixed that the aggregate, together with the mandatory reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, does not exceed fifty per cent of the total number of seats. Reservation made without satisfying the test could not stand, and the Court directed that the seats concerned be notified as general seats until the test was satisfied.
Ratio Decidendi
Clause (6) of each article is enabling and confers a power to be exercised on a factual foundation, not a licence to fix a figure by political judgment. Since the mandatory reservation for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes varies from district to district according to population, a flat percentage for backward classes must inevitably breach the ceiling somewhere, which shows that the exercise has to be local and evidence based. The ceiling itself preserves the elective character of the body, because beyond half the seats the electorate's choice is substantially displaced.
How to use it in an exam
- The operative test in current practice. Learn the three conditions and state them as a numbered list, which is how the question is usually framed.
- Note the practical consequence the Court ordered: seats affected are to be notified as general seats until the test is satisfied, so the reservation simply does not operate in the meantime.
- The reasoning to reproduce is that a uniform State-wide percentage cannot work, because the mandatory Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe reservation varies locally and the fifty per cent ceiling operates locally too.
- Read with K Krishna Murthy v Union of India 2010, from which the test is derived. Cite Krishna Murthy for the principles and this case for their operative form.
- Distinguish the mandatory reservations under Arts.243D(1) to (4) and 243T(1) to (4) for Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and women, which require no such inquiry and are fixed by the Constitution itself, the women's reservation being not less than one third.
- Use in problems where a State applies an existing backward class list, or a round percentage, to local body seats. Work through the three conditions in order and identify which fail.
Source
Source: (2021) 6 SCC 73; three Judge Bench; the operative test now applied to reservation of seats for backward classes in local bodies; citation and bench checked against Indian Kanoon and reported sources, audit of 12 August 2026
This is an educational summary, not the judgment itself. Cite the reported version in professional or academic work.