MUMBAI: A division bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday recused itself from hearing a bunch of petitions challenging the government resolution (GR) issued by the State on September 2, which implemented the Hyderabad Gazette and granted Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas from the Marathwada region, enabling them to get reservation under the Other Backward Castes (OBC) category.
The division bench of Justice Revati Mohite Dere and Justice Sandesh Dadasaheb Patil refused to hear the five petitions without giving a reason and ordered the court registry to place them before an appropriate bench. The matter is now expected to be placed before the bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad.
The petitions were filed by Maharashtra Mali Samaj Mahasangh, Ahir Suvarnakar Samaj Sanstha, Sadanand Bapu Mandlik of Samata Parishad, Maharashtra Nabhik Mahamandal, and the Kunbi Sena. All of them sought the quashing and setting aside of the GR or a direction to the government to withdraw the same.
Calling it unconstitutional, the Kunbi Sena’s petition said the GR has changed the criteria for issuing caste certificates of three castes – Kunbi, Kunbi Maratha and Maratha Kunbi.
Kunbi Sena’s petition added that the Gazette is not only violative of the right to equality for OBCs but also lacks legislative competence under the Constitution of India to grant reservation under Article 342A of the Constitution, which talks about socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC). The article was introduced by the Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018, and grants the President with powers to declare a caste as an SEBC. It was subsequently amended in 2021 to allow state governments to maintain an SEBC list, distinct from the Central government.
{{/usCountry}}Kunbi Sena’s petition added that the Gazette is not only violative of the right to equality for OBCs but also lacks legislative competence under the Constitution of India to grant reservation under Article 342A of the Constitution, which talks about socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC). The article was introduced by the Constitution (102nd Amendment) Act, 2018, and grants the President with powers to declare a caste as an SEBC. It was subsequently amended in 2021 to allow state governments to maintain an SEBC list, distinct from the Central government.
{{/usCountry}}It also highlighted that the GR violates Article 14 of the Constitution and arbitrarily favours a politically and socially advanced community by granting them OBC status. It added that the GR would affect over 260 castes and clans who are presently notified as OBCs and not represented in the government’s mainstream decisions and policies.
The GR was issued by the Maharashtra government following the five-day protest led by Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil over his demands for reservation benefits for Marathas. However, the representatives of the community soon moved the Bombay high court over their objections to the resolution, stating that “No government has the authority to add any community in another caste.”
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