Bombay High Court to pronounce verdict on petitions challenging Maratha reservation today

The Bombay High Court on Thursday will pronounce the verdict on petitions challenging the Maharashtra government's decision to grant 16 per cent quota to Maratha community. The quota to the community was granted in government jobs and educational institutions.

In November 2018, the Maharashtra legislature had passed a bill proposing 16 per cent reservation in education and government jobs for the Marathas under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category.

Several petitions were filed in the high court challenging the reservation, while a few others were filed in support of the quota.

On February 6, a division bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre commenced hearing in all the petitions. The petitions were closed for verdict in April this year.

The government, while defending its decision, had said reservation was only to bring up the Maratha community which has been neglected since long.

The petitioners challenging the quota decision, however, claimed that by granting reservation to the Maratha community, the government has given them permanent crutches which they will never be able to shed.

The petitioners argued that the government has destroyed the concept of equality by setting up a special category - Socially and Educationally Backward Class - for the Maratha community.

They also claimed that as per the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission report, Marathas and Kunbis are one and belong to the same caste and hence, should be included in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.