Mumbai News Highlights: Bombay HC seeks response from Speaker Rahul Narwekar, MLAs from Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction

A non-government organisation in Maharashtra's Thane has launched an initiative under which it has formed a 'gram panchayat' of children at a village in the district to raise issues being faced by the local kids.

Samatol Foundation, in collaboration with local authorities, has set up a 'Bal Gram Panchayat' comprising children at Mamanoli village in Murbad taluka of the district.

This bal gram panchayat having a child sarpanch, deputy sarpanch, talathi, among others work closely with the village panchayat and child safety committee to address the issues and challenges faced by children, founder and secretary of Samatol Foundation, Vijay Jadhav, told PTI.

Activist Manoj Jarange-Patil said the Maharashtra government should implement the draft notification on “blood relatives” of Kunbi Marathas within two days, failing which the community members would stage non-violent road blockades across the state from February 24.

Speaking at a meet of the Maratha community members at Antarwali sarti village in Jalna district, where he has been on a hunger strike since February 10, Jarange-Patil insisted on peaceful demonstrations and not resorting to violence during the protests.

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Zeeshan Siddique in reponse to being outsed from the post of Mumbai youth Cogress chief wrote on X, "88,517 mumbai youth congress members voted for me to become the president of mumbai youth congress which has been the highest number in the history of mumbai youth congress. This isn’t a nominated post I have got from lobbying or being a yes man to leaders, I have been ELECTED with the highest margin in the election process. After giving 12 years to the organisation having fought three elections it is unfortunate that I have not received any official intimation from the party and I have to learn about my ousting from media and social media. I am answerable to 88,517 who voted for me and I will be addressing a press conference about this very soon!"

Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil continues his hunger strike demanding reservation for the community within OBC quota.

Rajya Sabha member Sharad Pawar on Wednesday said there are differences among some of the opposition INDIA bloc parties in a couple of states over issues including seat-sharing which senior leaders from other states would try to resolve.

Speaking to reporters in Kolhapur, the senior politician said a meeting of the INDIA alliance, formed by several opposition parties to take on the ruling BJP in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls, has not been convened of late. A decision was taken earlier that all the parties of the opposition bloc will work together, he said.

"But majority of the parties in the alliance are limited to their states, so it was decided that all these parties will sit with other allied parties in their respective states and that process is going on," Pawar said. He noted there are differences among some the opposition alliance parties in a couple of states like Uttar Pradesh and West Bengal.

"In Uttar Pradesh, there is an absence of a common understanding over the seat-sharing formula. The other state is West Bengal, where there are some more problems, and the reason is that some parties such as the TMC, CPI(M) and Congress are traditionally opposed to each other," he said. Such issues have not been handled so far, the NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar party chief said.

"Our strategy is that wherever it is possible, we are addressing the issues, and wherever there are differences, like the states I have mentioned, senior leaders, especially from outside that state, sit and address these issues and that process will start soon," he said.

PTI

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday issued notice to Speaker MLAs from the rival faction, in a plea by Ajit Pawar-led NCP challenging the verdict of the Maharashtra Assembly Speaker Rahul Narwekar that rejected petitions seeking to disqualify MLAs of the rival Sharad Pawar-led NCP faction. The Court asked the respondents to file affidavits in reply, if any, on or before March 11 and posted further hearing to March 14.

Days after former Mumbai Congress leader Baba Siddique quit the party to join ruling NCP led by Ajit Pawar, his son and Bandra East MLA Zeeshan Siddique has been removed from the post of Mumbai youth Congress chief. Akhilesh Yadav will be the new Mumbai youth Congress chief.

OBC Bahujan Mahasangh leader Prakash Shendge raises doubts over Maratha reservation withstanding legal test. In an interview to Shubhangi Khapre, he says backdoor entry of Marathas within OBC category cannot be ruled out

Q) What is your response to government’s decision to give 10 per cent reservation to Marathas?

Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the IIT Bombay research park building and also laid the foundation stone of academic and residential buildings of the premier institute.

The IIT Bombay Research Park was constructed for Rs 225 crore, utilising Rs 100 crore from a grant by the Ministry of Education, Rs 67 crore from HEFA (Higher Education Financing Agency) loan, and Rs 58 crore from IITB internal revenue generation, a statement said. The Research Park is a G+14 floor building with 5 lakh square feet of built-up space.

The prime minister also laid the foundation stone of efficiency apartments, hostel 04, academic sciences blocks for chemistry and chemical engineering, bio-school and central animal facility, and academic blocks 1 and 2, as per the statement issued by the IIT Bombay. The total cost of the projects for which the foundation stone was laid is more than Rs 1,120 crore.

The NCP led by Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar challenged in the Bombay High Court the state assembly speaker's decision to not disqualify 10 MLAs from the Sharad Pawar camp.

The petitions requested the high court to quash Speaker Rahul Narwekar's recent order by declaring it bad in law, and also disqualify all the 10 legislators.

The petitions were filed by Anil Patil, chief whip of the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, through advocate Shrirang Varma, challenging the "legality, propriety and correctness" of the order passed by Narwekar dismissing the disqualification petitions filed against the MLAs belonging to the Sharad Pawar faction.

A division bench led by Justice G S Kulkarni said it would hear the matter on Wednesday.

The Maharashtra government, which legislated 10 per cent Maratha reservation, has kept open-ended its draft notification on the issuance of Kunbi certificates to eligible Marathas and blood relations within OBCs. Kunbi Marathas can thus avail of OBC reservation, while non-Kunbi Marathas will be covered under the new quota.

This is for the first time the Maharashtra government has extended reservation to the Maratha community under two separate categories.

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The Congress said the Maratha quota bill passed by the Maharashtra legislature will not stand the legal scrutiny and accused the government of deceiving Marathas and OBCs.

Senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar dubbed the exercise a "farce" with an eye on elections. "The law on the Maratha reservation was passed earlier also, but it was rejected by the Supreme Court. This (the passage of the bill) was done conveniently before polls. The legislation will not stand the test of law," Leader of Opposition in the state legislative assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, told reporters.

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena chief Raj Thackeray wondered if granting reservation comes under the purview of the state government.
"This is a farce to win elections. The government has deceived the Maratha community and OBCs," he alleged.

Manoj Jarange Patil, the activist who led the movement to provide caste-based reservations to Marathas and is on a hunger strike, welcomed the reservation bill introduced and passed in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, but contended that the reservation which has been proposed was not as per the community's demand.

"We need reservation which we deserve, give us reservation under OBC to those who's proof of being kunbi has been found and those who don't have proof of kunbi, for them pass a law of "Sage Soyare"," Patil said minutes after the Bill was passed unanimously by the Legislative Assembly.

He has called for a meeting of the Maratha community at 12 noon on Wednesday.

The political conflict over whether the Marathas are a “backward” community or not has been raging since the early 1980s. Historians have long agreed that the term ‘Maratha’ as a category or caste is an amalgamation of families from several different castes, most of whom occupied the lower strata of the caste hierarchy such as the Kunbi, Lohar, Sutar, Bhandari, Thakar and Dhangar.

It is over a period of three or four centuries and through a complex historical process that Marathas acquired a distinct caste identity that went on to dominate the political and economic landscape of modern Maharashtra. “The Marathas are a self-empowerment success story in modern India,” says anthropologist Thomas Hansen who has authored the book, ‘Wages of Violence: Naming and Identity in Postcolonial Bombay’ (2018).

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With passing of law of 10% Maratha reservation under socially and educationally backward category in jobs and education, the total reservation in Maharashtra will go up to 62 percent. 

In the state, following the 2001 State Reservation Act, the total reservation was 52 per cent. This included quotas for Scheduled Caster (13%), Scheduled Tribes (7%), Other Backward Classes (19%), Special Backward Class (2%), Vimukta Jati (3%), Nomadic Tribe B (2.5%), Nomadic Tribe C-Dhangar (3.5%) and Nomadic Tribe D-Vanjari (2%). 

With the addition of 12-13 per cent Maratha quota which was upheld by the Bombay HC in 2019, the total reservation in the state had gone up to 64-65 per cent, however the same was struck down by the Apex Court in May, 2021 taking it back to 52 per cent. With passing of 2024 law, it has again gone up to 64 percent.  The 10 % EWS quota is also effective in the state. 

Besides Marathas, communities including Dhangar, Lingayat and Muslim have also raised their demands for reservation in the state. 

On February 16, the Bombay High Court dismissed  dismissed “entirely without merit” petitions seeking Scheduled Tribe (ST) status for the Dhangar (shepherd) community in Maharashtra. The petitioners had claimed that the community in Maharashtra got listed as Dhangar instead of ‘Dhangad’ due to a typographical error and was therefore excluded from the ST category.

• As per the report, educational indicators illustrate with examples, that the level of education of the Maratha community is low, particularly in terms of completion of secondary education and attainment of degrees, post-graduate degrees and professional courses.
• Economic backwardness is the biggest obstacle to education.
• Inadequate education often leads to poverty, which in turn leads to inadequate education.
• 
  Maratha families below poverty line and having yellow ration cards are 21.22 percent while open category families below poverty line are 18.09 percent.
• The percentage of Maratha families is higher than the state average (17.4 percent) indicating that they are economically backward.

After presenting the bill to extend 10 percent Maratha reservation in education and job sectors at the special session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the goverment is confident that the bill will survive the test of law, alleging many states have gone beyond the 50 percent quota limit.

He said, "We are confident that the reservation will survive the test of law. There are many states which have gone beyond the limit of 50 percent. We are confident that this government will be successful in safeguarding the reservation in the court."

He added, "We are giving this reservation by clearing all legal obstacles"

After presenting the bill to extend 10 percent Maratha reservation in education and job sectors at the special session of the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Tuesday, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that it poses no threat to other communities.

He said, "As a head of the state, I have always maintained positive mindset towards demands of every community and not only of Maratha. There will be No threat to the reservation of any community."

Maharashtra opposition parties have written a letter to CM Eknath Shinde seeking his response on several points before passing the bill granting 10%reservation to Maratha community.

Opposition in its letter has sought clarification on:

• Whether the reservation will survive the test of law
• The government must clarify that the present reservation will not harm OBC reservation
• The government must disclose details of discussion between the government and Maratha social activist Manoj Jarange-Patil and also the assurance given
• The government must clarify on the present situation with respect to notification issued to amend the draft rules while giving caste certificates by including the word sage-soyare (extended relatives).

The Maharashtra government introduced a bill on Tuesday, extending reservation to Marathas above the 50 per cent mark in a special session of the state legislature.

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde tabled the bill to extend 10 percent reservation to Marathas in education and jobs, similar to that given in 2018 by the then-state government.

The reservation was extended based on a report submitted to the state government by the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission (MBCC) headed by chairman Justice (Retired) Sunil Shukre.

The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday told the Bombay High Court that it will extend till March 1 its previous statement that it would not arrest Sameer Wankhede, the former zonal director of the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB), in a money laundering case.

A division bench of Justices P D Naik and N R Borkar accepted the statement and posted Wankhede's petition against the case on March 1.

The bench directed the probe agency to produce a copy of the ECIR (complaint) on that day.

The ED registered a money laundering case against Wankhede after taking cognisance of a first information report (FIR) by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in an alleged Rs 25-crore bribe demand from superstar Shah Rukh Khan's family to spare his son in a drugs case.

Earlier this month, Wankhede filed a petition in the high court seeking to quash the ED's case and, through an interim order, sought protection from any coercive action and a stay on the probe.

(PTI report)

Maharashtra Government has set an ambitious target of becoming a one trillion dollar economy by 2027-28, Governor Ramesh Bais informed the state legislature on Tuesday.

This target is in line with the country's goal of becoming a five trillion dollar economy, Bais said, addressing the legislators at the start of the day-long special session of the legislature on Maratha quota at Vidhan Bhavan in south Mumbai.

“In this year, 75 projects with Rs. 61,576 crore investment have been approved under the Package Scheme of Incentives, which will generate more than 53,000 employment opportunities in the state,” he said.

“Maharashtra is the highest in attracting foreign direct investment in the country. There has been foreign direct investment of Rs. 65,500 crore in the state. This investment is 38.78 per cent of the country's total foreign direct investment,” he said.

In January 2024, the state government signed MoUs of more than Rs 3.53 lakh crore at the World Economic Forum held in Davos. This will lead to creation of two lakh jobs, he said.

(PTI report)

A 40-year-old police inspector shot himself dead with his service revolver inside his cabin at the Ambad police station in Maharashtra’s Nashik on Tuesday morning, said officials.

The police identified the deceased as Ashok Najan and said there has been no clarity on the reason behind the suicide so far.

The OBC community heaved a sigh of relief after learning that the Maratha reservation will be for education in government education institutions and government jobs only and will not apply in politics.

Maratha activist Manoj Jarange Patil insisted on reservation within the OBC category.

He said that if the government does not accept the demand, there will be bigger agitation from February 21.

National Congress Party minister and OBC leader Chhagan Bujhbal on Tuesday said, "We will not allow inclusion of Marathas within OBC."

He further demanded a rollback on sage soyre notification, claiming that there are several discrepancies in Kunbhi enrollment.

Bhujbal also questioned the MSBCC report on Maratha reservation and demanded a caste census be done in Maharashtra.

Maharashtra Rastriya OBC Mahasangh president Babanrao Taywade on Tuesday said the community has no problems if Marathas are given reservation in separate quota without impacting OBC reservation.

However, he added, "But the responsibility to ensure such reservation withstands legal validity rests with state government."

In India, promising reservation to any caste or community is as daring an act as riding a tiger. Getting off the “reservation tiger” could be even more adventurous. The BJP in Maharashtra would have learnt this by now. Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange has ended his fast. But with over half a dozen supporters committing suicide in the last few weeks, the issue has turned into a fireball that could hurt the ruling party’s ambitions.

Marathas, forming 33 per cent of Maharashtra’s population, are the strongest of all communities in the state. Eleven of the state’s 16 chief ministers have been Marathas. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and half of the 29-member cabinet are Marathas. In the education sector, most major private and deemed universities in the state, like the Bharati Vidyapeeth, D Y Patil University and the Pravara Institute Of Medical Sciences, are founded and run by Marathas.

OBC organisations have come together to vehemently oppose the Maratha demand. OBC Jan Morcha president Prakash Shendge has threatened to launch a statewide agitation if the government gives the Marathas OBC reservation.

In May 2021, a five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan struck down the provisions of the Maharashtra law providing reservation to the Maratha community, which took the total quota in the state beyond the 50% ceiling set by the court in its 1992 Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment.

In November 2022, after the SC upheld the Centre’s 10% quota for Economically Weaker Sections (EWS), the Maharashtra government said that until the issue of Maratha reservation is resolved, the poor among the Marathas could not benefit from the EWS quota. In April this year, the court turned down Maharashtra’s plea for a review of its decision, following which the state said it would file a curative petition.

The government also said that a commission would be set up to carry out a detailed survey of the “backwardness” of the community.

The Marathas want to be identified as Kunbis, which would entitle them to benefits under the quota for Other Backward Classes (OBCs). The demand for OBC reservation arose after the Supreme Court, in May 2021, struck down the quota for Marathas under the state’s Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) Act, 2018.

In June 2019, the Bombay High Court upheld the Maratha quota under the SEBC Act. However, the court ruled that the 16% quota under the Act was not “justifiable”, and reduced it to 12% in education and 13% in government jobs, as recommended by the State Backward Class Commission.

The HC also said that total reservations should not exceed 50%, except in exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations. This would be subject to availability of quantifiable and contemporaneous data reflecting backwardness, inadequacy of representation and without affecting the efficiency in administration.

The demand for Maratha reservation has been a political issue and reason for mass protests in the state ever since Mathadi Labour Union leader Annasaheb Patil led the first protest rally in Mumbai in 1981.

During 2016-18, the Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) held massive statewide demonstrations — while the first phase of 58 rallies remained peaceful, the second phase of protests saw bloodshed and several alleged suicides.

Over the years, a succession of Maratha Chief Ministers have been unable to satisfy the community’s demands. In the latest phase of the agitation, Jarange-Patil began a hunger strike on August 29.

Historically identified as a “warrior” caste, the Marathas comprise mainly peasant and landowning groups who make up almost a third of the population of Maharashtra. Most Marathas speak Marathi, though not all Marathi-speaking people are Marathas.

In June 2022, when it engineered a split in its longstanding partner, the Shiv Sena, the BJP wouldn’t have imagined, even in its wildest dreams, that the man it entrusted with the responsibility of Maharashtra’s chief ministership would plan to build his vote bank and extend his use-by-date. For the BJP, Eknath Sambhaji Shinde, when he was handed over the reins of the prized state of Maharashtra, was someone who could be fed its political agenda. But looks are deceptive, especially in politics.

Around two-and-a-half years later, Shinde has not only succeeded in rallying the politically strong Marathas behind him but also challenged the BJP’s traditional OBC base. Last week, he announced the inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category.

Members of the OBC Community stage a protest in Beed against Maratha leader Manoj Jarange Patil over the issue of Maratha reservation.

Speaking to ANI on Tuesday on the issue of the Maratha reservation, Samajwadi Party (SP) MLA Rais Shaikh said though the reservation extension is welcomed, the promises for quota for the Muslim community is being ignored. 

He said, "When the Maratha community was given reservation by the previous government, on the same day a notification was brought out and a 5% reservation was given to Muslims. But today, we are seeing that Maratha community is getting justice which we welcome but at the same time, the Muslim community is being ignored."

Rais appealed to Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar to look into the matter. He added, " We appeal to the government to go through the notification, when you are doing justice, do justice to everybody. I appeal to Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, who had promised that no injustice will be done to the minorities to look into this and give justice to the minorities of this state."

The Maharashtra Cabinet on Tuesday approved the report of the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission saying the Maratha community is a socially and educationally backward class and should get 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs.

The Maharashtra Government will introduce the Bill on Tuesday to extend reservations to Marathas.

The Bombay High Court on Tuesday adjourned a PIL challenging appointments of Chairperson (Justice Sunil B Shukre) and other members of Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) for two weeks.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf for state government told a Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya-led bench that the timing of moving of these matters was 'apparent' as today the Assembly session is being held on the issue and the PIL was not even served to the respondent authorities.

The bench, at the request of petitioner Mrunal Shantaram Dholepatil's lawyer adjourned the hearing and asked the petitioner to serve the PIL copy to the state government, and posted it after two weeks.

The report of Maharashtra Backward Class Commission on the status of backwardness in Maratha community was approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday.

It concludes that the Maratha community is a socially and educationally backward class and should be specified as such under Article 342A(3) of the Constitution of India and reservation should be made for those classes under Article 15(4), 15(5) and Article 16(4) of the Constitution. 

The report, which was submitted to the government on Friday, further states that "an exceptional circumstances and exceptional circumstances specified by the Commission exists, while authorizing the granting of limited reservation of more than 50 per cent to the Maratha community in reservation in admissions to civil institutions and in reservation in public services and posts."

The report further suggests that 10 percent reservation to Maratha community in public services and 10 percent reservation in admissions to educational institutions is necessary and visible.

"It is desirable to make special provisions by law for reservation in public services for the advancement of the socially and educationally backward and for admissions to educational institutions other than those specified in Clause (1) of Article 30 of the Constitution of India," the report of backward class commission states.

Mumbai Police probing the “fake letter” alleging sexual harassment of eight constables from its Motor Transport (MT) department have zeroed in on a constable from the same department as the person who sent the letter. As evidence, the police said it has statements of two other cops in whom the constable had confided about having sent the letter to the CM’s office before fleeing.

The police are currently on the lookout for the constable and once he is caught, they will decide further course of action. The police suspect it was part of a rivalry between two groups that had formed in the department that may have led to the constable having written the letter.

Reports Mohamed Thaver.

A case has been registered against a woman, her son and another person for allegedly cheating a 41-year-old man from Navi Mumbai of Rs 5 lakh by selling him fake gold coins, police said on Tuesday.

The accused, hailing from Mumbra in Maharashtra's Thane district, initially gained the victim's trust by selling him genuine gold coins earlier this month.

They later lured him into buying more coins and allegedly cheating him of Rs 5 lakh by selling him counterfeit coins, an official from Kharghar police station said.

After realising that he was duped, the man approached the Mumbra police who referred the matter to their counterparts at Kharghar in Navi Mumbai.

The Kharghar police on Monday registered a case against the mother-son duo and another accused under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating), 406 (criminal breach of trust) and 34 (common intention), the official said. 

(PTI report)

Police have registered a case against four persons for allegedly cheating five people from Navi Mumbai township in Maharashtra of Rs 65.73 lakh by promising them discounts on high-end mobile phones and cars, an official said on Tuesday.

The accused posed as employees of a well-known company.

They lured the victims to invest substantial sums with a promise of getting them expensive mobile phones and cars on discounts through coupons of the company in 40 days, the official from Kamothe police station said.

The victims collectively invested Rs 65.73 lakh between August 2023 and January 2024 to get such items.

When the accused did not deliver the goods as promised and gave evasive responses, one of the victims, a 34-year-old self-employed woman, approached the Kamothe police.

Based on her complaint, the police on Monday registered a case against the four accused, including a couple, from Mumbai under Indian Penal Code sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention), the official said.

(PTI report)

The Maharashtra government is set to introduce a bill on Tuesday, extending reservation to Marathas above the 50 per cent mark in a special session of the state legislature. According to sources, the government will extend 10 to 12 per cent reservation to Marathas in education and jobs, similar to that given in 2018 by the then state government.

The reservation will be extended based on a report submitted to the state government by the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission (MBCC) headed by chairman Justice (Retired) Sunil Shukre. Last week, the Commission submitted a report on social and educational backwardness of the Maratha community for which it had undertaken the survey of around 2.5 crore homes within nine days.

Even as the seat-sharing deal between the parties constituting the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) is yet to be finalised, the Shiv Sena UBT led by Uddhav Thackeray on Monday appointed coordinators for 18 Lok Sabha constituencies in Maharashtra to look after poll preparation, in an indication that the party would contest those seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Of the 18 coordinators of Sena UBT, four are in the Lok Sabha constituencies of Mumbai, which has six seats.

Skies in Mumbai are expected to be sunny today. The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 19 degrees Celsius and 32 degrees Celsius, respectively.

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