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Journalism of Courage
A Mumbai lawyer on Friday filed a plea in the Bombay High Court challenging the law passed by the Maharashtra state legislature granting 10 per cent reservation to Marathas under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category in jobs and education.
The law which was passed on February 20 – the notification was issued on February 26 – was formulated by the Chief Minister Eknath Shinde-led government based on a report of the Justice (retired) Sunil B Shukre-led Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC). The report had said “exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations exist” and this warrants granting reservation to the Maratha community in excess of 50 per cent total reservation in the state.
The writ petition filed by advocate Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil and others, including Gunratan Sadavarte, Shankarrao Linge and Rajaram Patil, has claimed that former high court judge Justice Shukre’s appointment as MSBCC chairperson was against the law and should be quashed and set aside.
The petitioners sought a stay on the effect of the law pending disposal of the plea and that no advertisements for SEBC category reservation for jobs and educational courses be issued till then. It sought to make the MSBCC report available to petitioners as it was provided during earlier litigation against the 2018 Maratha quota law.
Meanwhile, Vinod Patil, one of the key coordinators of Maratha Kranti Morcha, has filed a caveat in the high court to hear his submissions.
Advocate Jaishri Patil had earlier approached the high court challenging the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, enacted by the 2018 Devendra Fadnavis-led government, that granted Marathas 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education.
In June 2019, the Bombay High Court had upheld the 2018 law but ruled that the 16 per cent quota was not “justifiable” and reduced the quota to 12 per cent in education and 13 per cent in government jobs. Patil and others had approached the Supreme Court against the high court verdict.
In May 2021, the Constitution bench of the apex court struck down the SEBC Act, 2018. The Supreme Court had said “no extraordinary circumstances were made out in granting” the “separate reservation… by exceeding the 50% ceiling limit of reservation … ” set by the 1992 Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment. The apex court had also raised questions about the empirical data submitted to prove Marathas’ social backwardness.
The Maharashtra government then filed a review petition in the apex court. That was rejected in April 2023, following which a curative plea was filed, which is pending before the apex court.
As per the high court website, the plea is likely to be heard on March 8, however, petitioners are likely to mention it before the court earlier seeking urgent relief.
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