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After ‘racial discrimination’ claim in lawyer’s plea, Bombay HC seeks Maharashtra govt reply on Muslim quota scrap challenge
In November 2014, the Bombay High Court struck down the Maratha and Muslim quotas in jobs but upheld the 5% Muslim quota in education.
The HC approved the 5 per cent Muslim quota in government and government-aided educational institutions, but stayed its use in private unaided institutions.(File Photo)
The Bombay High Court on Thursday directed the Maharashtra Government to reply to a petition filed by a Mumbai-based lawyer challenging the February 17 Government Resolution (GR) scrapping the 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in education, alleging it was made “deliberately and arbitrarily” amid “racial discrimination against minorities.”
On February 17, the state Social Justice Department cancelled a July 7, 2014, Government Resolution (GR) issued under an ordinance that had enabled nearly 50 specified Muslim communities to obtain caste verification and validity certificates under the Special Backward Category-A (SBC-A).
A bench of Justices Riyaz I Chagla and Advait M Sethna was hearing the petition from lawyer Syed Ejaz Abbas Naqvi, who argued that the state was “practising racial discrimination against students of the minority Muslim community,” breaching the petitioner’s and community’s fundamental rights.
The petitioner urged the court to quash and set aside the February 17 decision, noting that it was issued despite no one being affected by the Muslim caste’s Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) quota and no complaints having been lodged with the State Backward Class Commission.
Pending final disposal of the plea, Naqvi sought a stay on the impugned decision and directions for authorities to provide any available quantified data on the conditions of the classes and castes covered in the original quota decision for Muslims.
Representing the Maharashtra Government, Additional Government Pleader (AGP) Kavita N Solunke sought three weeks to reply to the plea, which the court granted and sought the state’s affidavit in reply by April 23, followed by a rejoinder by the petitioner within a week thereafter.
The court also asked the petitioner to produce, within three weeks, English translations of the impugned decision and news reports cited by him that allegedly depicted “negative narrative” about the reservation of certain castes of Muslims by the respondent constitutional office holders. The HC will hear the plea next on May 4.
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HC upheld Muslim 5% for education, lapsed under BJP govt
The Congress-NCP government in July 2014 introduced 16 per cent reservation for the Maratha community alongside a 5 per cent quota for Muslims (from 50 specified castes) in government jobs and education under the SEBC category.
On November 14, 2014, the Bombay High Court struck down the Maratha reservation (later reintroduced through separate legislation) but upheld Muslim reservations for education, citing “sufficient material and quantifiable data” to justify their classification as a special backward class.
The HC approved the 5 per cent Muslim quota in government and government-aided educational institutions, but stayed its use in private unaided institutions.
The bench, led by then Chief Justice Mohit Shah, refused to exceed the 50% ceiling for public jobs for Muslims and stayed the ordinance’s application.
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The ordinance lapsed on December 23, 2014, without being converted into a permanent law after the BJP-led government took over in Maharashtra, rendering the July 2014 GR ineffective.
The February 17 decision formally cancelled prior directives and circulars, including provisions for caste and validity certificates for Muslim communities, leading to the plea in HC by the city-based lawyer.
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