Maratha reservation case: SC issues notice to Maharashtra government
The Supreme Court refused to stay the order against Maratha quota order.
The apex court was hearing a plea challenging the validity of the June 27 verdict of the Bombay High Court .
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi did not stay the Bombay High Court court order upholding the constitutional validity of the Maratha quota low.
In its order on Friday, the Supreme Court said that the reservation given in education and jobs to the Maratha community on behalf of the Maharashtra government will not be implemented effectively. Simultaneously, on behalf of the top court, the state government has issued a notice in this case and sought the response.
The Supreme Court declined to stay order on the Maratha reservation. It also said that the Maharashtra state government’s decision to grant reservation to Maratha people and the Bombay High Court’s verdict upholding its decision, cannot be implemented with retrospective effect.
Hearing the plea against Maratha quota, the Supreme Court refused to stay the order and issued a notice to Maharashtra government on two pleas against June 27 Bombay HC verdict upholding the Maratha reservation in government jobs and education.
Other argument made by the concerned party says that the state does not have the authority or law to create a class like Maratha as a separate socially and educationally backward class. “This should only be under the authority of the Union Government and not the State government,” the plea read adding that such a reservation will require a constitutional amendment.
A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi did not stay the Bombay High Court court order upholding the constitutional validity of the Maratha quota law, but made it clear that the aspect allowing the reservation for Marathas with a retrospective effect from 2014 would not be made operational.
The plea said the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, which provided a 12 percent and a 13 percent quota to the Maratha community in education and jobs respectively, breached the 50 percent ceiling on reservation fixed by the apex court in its landmark judgment in the Indira Sawhney case, also known as the “Mandal verdict”.
The bench was hearing two appeals, including one filed by J Laxman Rao Patil challenging the high court order that upheld the constitutional validity of the quota for the Maratha community in education and government jobs in Maharashtra.
In his initial reaction, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis welcomed the court verdict and indicated that the new quota percentages recommended were acceptable to the government.
After Maharashtra government’s announcement, the total reservations shot up from 52 per cent to 68 per cent after which several petitions were filed in the Bombay HC challenging the government’s decision.
Source: Input From Agencies
