Fact-check: Did SC overturn Allahabad HC’s order on reservation in UP panchayat polls?

A purported Aaj Tak ‘Breaking News’ graphic plate that reads – “UP gram panchayat election big judgment…Supreme Court orders that the old list will be issued… the new list is cancelled and the list will be issued as per 1995” – has been shared on social media.

A second graphic that reads – “UP panchayat election now from May 1…Supreme Court’s decision revoked new reservation list…High Court’s decision reversed and now another list will be issued” – has also been circulated.

Facebook user Vijay Nath Upadhyay posted the two graphic plates and wrote, “Today, people from savarna community were going to contest elections but today they will realise the effects of reservation and caste politics.”

The graphic plates are viral on Facebook.

Fact-check

On March 15, PTI reported that the “Allahabad High Court quashed an Uttar Pradesh government order on the reservation of seats for various categories of candidates, including SC, ST, OBC and women, for the upcoming three-tier panchayat elections in the state, issued on the basis of the 1995 population. After quashing the February 11 order, a Lucknow bench of the High Court asked the government to issue a fresh order providing for the reservation on the basis of the 2015 population”.

A petition was filed in the Supreme Court on March 26 challenging the High Court’s order. The top court rejected the plea and refused to stay the panchayat polls. The viral claims are therefore false. The Supreme Court did not overturn the High Court’s order. It is to be noted that the claim has been doing the rounds since March 22 and the SC gave its order on March 26.

Petitioner Dilip Kumar had appealed to the SC to consider reservation of seats for this election by considering 1995 as the base year, reported News18 adding that Kumar said the government had issued a mandate to do the same in February.

Live Law stated that the plea had challenged the UP government’s March 17 list issued in compliance with the High Court’s order as a consequence of which, the constituency Ishapur, district Jaunpur of one of the petitioners which was earmarked as unreserved, was reserved for the OBC category.

A visual comparison of the viral graphic plate with a genuine Aaj Tak graphic plate aired during a broadcast makes it evident that the former is fake.

Furthermore, an Aaj Tak editor also informed Alt News that the graphic plates are morphed since the background has been altered and the template follows an old format.