The Uttar Pradesh government on Thursday moved the Supreme Court against an Allahabad High Court order directing it to hold urban local body polls without providing reservation to members of the Other Backward Classes, Live Law reported.

The government, in a special leave petition before the Supreme Court, contended that OBCs are a constitutionally protected group and the High Court’s decision was incorrect, according to PTI.

On December 27, a High Court bench of Justices Devendra Upadhyaya and Saurabh Lavania had annulled a December 5 notification issued by the state government announcing reservation for OBCs in the elections.

The court passed the order in response to a batch of petitions alleging that the quota had been announced without completing the Supreme Court-mandated triple test.

In March last year, the Supreme Court, while deciding on the legality of OBC reservations in Maharashtra local body elections, had set out a three-fold test that state governments have to follow to provide the quota.

First, they must set up a dedicated commission to examine backwardness in local bodies within the state. Second, states must determine the size of the quota based on the data collected by the commission. Third, these reservations, combined with the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes quotas, should not be more than 50% of the total seats in the local body.

The Allahabad High Court had said that until conditions mandated in the “triple test” are complied with by the state government, reservation to OBCs cannot be provided.

Shortly after the verdict, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Adityanath had said that elections will not be held in the state without providing reservation to the OBCs. On Wednesday, the state government appointed a five-member commission to carry out a survey of urban local bodies to assess the political backwardness of the community.

The commission will be headed by retired High Court judge Ram Avatar Singh.