Do not stay implementation of Maratha quota law: State to HC

Maharashtra govt urges Bombay HC not to stay 10% reservation for Marathas in public employment/education, citing exceptional circumstances and detailed study.

MUMBAI: The state government has urged the Bombay high court not to impose a stay on implementation of the law granting 10% reservation to Marathas in public employment and education, claiming the benefit was provided under exceptional circumstances as the community was excluded from the mainstream and was worse off than other backward communities in the state.

Bombay high court

“The (Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2024) Act having been enacted to secure the right to equality of a socially and educationally backward class of citizens, based on an exhaustive and detailed study conducted by a statutory commission after collecting and analysing the largest and most contemporary data available, ought not be interfered with at the interlocutory stage,” Sumant Bhange, secretary, general administration department, said in an affidavit filed in the high court on March 26, in response to a bunch of petitions challenging validity of the recently enacted law.

“I say that any stay on the implementation and operation of the Act would not only abridge the rights of the members of such class but would also have wide-ranging legal and societal implications,” the affidavit noted.

It said the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes (MSCBC) under the chairmanship of retired justice Sunil B Shukre had conducted a detailed and exhaustive survey and recommended that the community be declared as socially, educationally and economically backward and be provided with adequate reservation. The commission had collected and analysed data from over 1.58 crore households across the state, in accordance with directions of the supreme court and with the help of experts. It had also examined quantifiable data from government records, public records and statistics, historical documents, previous reports of commissions / committees, etc to arrive at its decision.