HC seeks state’s reply in PIL challenging grant of Kunbi certificates to Marathas

Petition contests preferential treatment, encroachment on OBC share. Court to deliberate on June 27.

Mumbai: The Bombay high court (HC) on Thursday sought the reply of the state in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) challenging the Maharashtra state government’s January 26 decision to enable Marathas to obtain Kunbi certificates under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category. The Kunbi community, primarily agrarian in nature, is classified under the Other Backward Class (OBC) category.

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Filed by the OBC Welfare Foundation’s chairman, Mangesh Sasane, the PIL contests the government’s move, citing various decisions dating back to 2004 that allowed Marathas to seek Kunbi certificates. According to the petition, the government by taking such a decision was ‘eating into’ the reservation of other backward classes.

The PIL also questions the constitution of the justice (retired) Sandeep Shinde committee, which was tasked with studying the process of granting Kunbi (OBC) certificates to Marathas, along with the panel’s submitted report.

The recent gazette notification issued by the state social justice department aims to amend the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Denotified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes & Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Rules, 2012. These amendments pertain to the norms and regulations governing the issuance and verification of caste certificates for various categories.

The notification, released on January 26, presents a draft of the rules to be amended in response to the demands of Maratha protests led by Manoj Jarange-Patil. The government has announced its intention to consider these amendments after soliciting suggestions and objections from those likely to be affected by the decision by February 16.

The petitioner alleges that the process of granting Kunbi certificates to the Maratha community has become progressively easier with each agitation, leading to concerns of preferential treatment. Additionally, the PIL highlights a 2021 Supreme Court decision striking down Maratha reservations in education and public employment under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018. The inclusion of Marathas in the OBC category, according to the petitioner, encroaches upon the share designated for OBCs.

Furthermore, the PIL questions the frequent alterations to the list of castes included in the OBC category, citing a lack of justification or data for such changes. It suggests that the communities included in the Maratha-Kunbi/Kunbi-Maratha classification do not meet the criteria typically associated with OBC status.

A bench of chief justice D K Upadhyay and Justice Arif S Doctor will now deliberate on the matter post vacations on June 27.

Concurrently another set of petitions challenging 10% Reservation to Marathas in education and employment is also under challenge before the same bench and would be heard in June.