New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancel on Maharashtra Law to grant reservation for Maratha for the jobs and admission in educational institution and also passed a judgment that there is no need to re-examine the 1992 verdict capping quota at 50% for citizen of Maharashtra.
A five-judge constitution bench of Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat were amicable on the unconstitutionality of Maratha Law and said that Maratha community cannot be declared as socially and educationally backward to permit them
reservation. There were no exceptional conditions and extraordinary situation to clarify the need for 50% cap in granting reservations to Maratha community.
The state Government has mounted the Law on November 30, 2018 permit 16% quota for Maratha community in Government jobs and admission to the educational institutes. While sustaining the law, Bombay High Court on June in Government 27, 2019 directed the Government and brought it down to 12% for education and 13% for jobs as advised by a State-appointed backward class commission headed by Former HC Judge M B Gaikwad.
Condemning the court, the petitioners stated that the HC misinterpreted the SC judgment to conclude that there is no stringent celling limit of 50% reservation as told out in the 1992 Indra Swahney case.
Allowing the appeal, the Apex court cancel the High Court order.
The main part of the bunch of Petitioners condemning the validity of the Maratha quota is that it took the total reservation way more the 50% celling put by the SC on its judgment on Indra Swahney case in November 1992, while sustaining the validity of 27% OBC quota in Government jobs, which
was later extended to admission in educational institute.
The state government however, said that there is no illegality in granting reservation to Maratha community as many other states had permit 50% reservation to their citizen. Many states has supported the Maratha government and advised The SC to review their judgment on the reservation and they should be allowed to decide the amount of reservation they want to give. The Centre has also come in support of Maratha government and told the court that it was a genuine law.
