Mumbai, Nov. 11 -- More than 53% of Maharashtra's zilla parishads or district councils appear to have breached the 50% ceiling on reservation mandated by the Supreme Court, according to data finalised by district collectors. Over 22% of panchayat samitis, the taluka-level rural bodies, also have more than half of their seats reserved for SCs, STs and OBCs, officials said. The breach of the cap is expected to be challenged in court. The Bombay High Court is already hearing a bunch of petitions concerning rotational reservation, ward formation and other pre-poll matters, which are expected to come up for hearing next week. District collectors announced the quotas for 32 district councils and 336 panchayat samitis earlier this week. Although the OBC quota has not crossed 27%, the proportion for SCs and STs has varied according to local population strength. In several districts and talukas with a dominant SC or ST population, the total reservation has crossed the 50% limit. Of the 2,882 seats in district councils, 1,875 are reserved for the SC, ST and OBC categories, leaving only 1,007 for the general category. In the 3,858 panchayat samiti seats, 1,906 are reserved. Although the total number of general seats is higher, some bodies have crossed the gap. Districts such as Nandurbar, Palghar and Nashik, which have large tribal populations, have a significant number of seats reserved for STs. In the Nandubar district council, 44 of 56 seats are reserved for STs, along with 37 of 57 seats in Palghar. Likewise, SC-dominated districts, including Washim, Buldhana and Hingoli, have a significant number of seats reserved for STs. Sachin Rajurkar, general secretary of the Rashtriya OBC Mahasangh, said that the breaching of the cap could be challenged in court. "The Supreme Court, in March 2021, had struck down OBC reservation as it had crossed the 50% cap and asked the state election commission (SEC) to conduct elections to five district councils without OBC reservation. The Supreme Court, in May this month, while asking the SEC to conduct the local body polls with 27% reservation for OBCs, asked the stakeholders to approach it in case of any ambiguity." SEC officials maintained that the elections are being conducted as per the Supreme Court's May 2025 order. "The SC made it clear that the OBC reservation would be a flat 27% based on the situation that existed before the Banthia Commission report was submitted in July 2022. This means it has allowed crossing the 50% cap. It is now up to the apex court to decide on the breach of the quota verdicts given earlier," said an official. State election commissioner Dinesh Waghmare concurred: "The SC has clearly asked us to go for the 27% OBC quota as per the pattern that existed before July 2022. This means the reservation drawn by the local bodies is in accordance with the apex court verdict."...