Maharashtra: Reservations over relief for Marathas remain

A day after the Supreme Court scrapped the reservation given to Marathas by the Maharashtra government in 2018, the state has started deliberating on legal options and ways to pacify the upset community

A day after the Supreme Court scrapped the reservation given to Marathas by the Maharashtra government in 2018, the state has started deliberating on legal options and ways to pacify the upset community.

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Marathas were given 12% and 13% quota in education and government jobs, respectively, under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018. The Supreme Court on Wednesday quashed it, saying people from the community can’t be declared educationally and socially backward just to bring them in the reserved category. The five-judge bench also refused to refer the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment, setting a 50-% cap on reservation, to a larger bench for reconsideration.

As chief minister Uddhav Thackeray hinted on Wednesday, the state is expected to approach the Centre for intervention to establish the backwardness of the community and hence, inclusion in the reserved quota. The Centre may also be requested for a legislation to restore the state’s powers to enact a law to accord reservation to any community. The government is also looking into the option of filing a review petition in the top court. “Our legal team and counsels have been studying the 569-page order by the SC, after which the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation will have a meeting with them. We are requesting the Central government for intervention, after the SC categorically said the powers to notify any caste as backward class lies with the National Commission of Backward Classes (NCBC). The Centre can also reinforce its stand that the 102nd Constitutional amendment has not suppressed states’ powers to give reservation. There are legalities related to these options as the report by State Backward Class Commission headed by MG Gaikwad, too, has been struck down by the court. The option of a review petition is being considered, but we will need to put forth a strong base for it,” said public works department minister and head of cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation Ashok Chavan.

According to legal experts and counsels representing the state, there is a limited scope for restoration of the reservation. “The SC order has clarified that there was no need to approach the 11-judge bench for a review of Indra Sawhney judgment. It also questioned the findings of the Gaikwad Commission report, which was the basis of the reservation given in “extraordinary and exceptional circumstances” of backwardness. Even if we decide to approach the NCBC, the question on the basis of backwardness of the community remains,” said one of the counsels, on condition of anonymity.

A state official said they don’t have any immediate remedy. He said the state could go for a new law by addressing the flaws pointed out by the SC, but only if the Centre takes the legal recourse to empower the state to do so. “The state can now follow it up with the President of India and the Central government. Simultaneously, the state should ensure the community gets the benefits and schemes they would have got from the quota. A large chunk of Marathas is poor and needs the benefits,” said Balkrishna Renke, former chairman of the National Commission for Denotified, Nomadic and Semi Nomadic Tribes.

The state is also planning a meeting with Maratha outfits later next week to take them into confidence. The government has already announced that the community will continue to get benefits such as hostels for youths, funding to SARTHI (Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj Research, Training and Human Development Institute), the institute established for educational, social and financial development of the community and scholarships for higher education of the students from the community. The state government is also open to extending the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota of 10% reservation to the community. Chavan said they have already announced various schemes for the community and will soon have a meeting with the outfits.

Rajendra Date Patil, one of the petitioners in the SC, said, “The Centre had tabled a bill to expand the scope of reservation beyond 50% about a decade ago, as 28 states have crossed the limit. The Centre can take a comprehensive view and get the law enacted to give respite to communities such as Jats, Gujjars and Marathas. The Central government has said in the top court and in Parliament that the 102nd constitutional amendment does not suppress the states’ powers of giving reservation. It will have to make the necessary amendment for it,” he said.

A leader closely associated with the developments said they had anticipated the SC verdict and so had requested the SC to transfer it to the 11-member constitution bench. “We also ensured that similar petitions of other states pending in the SC are clubbed with ours. Had it been referred to the larger bench, the verdict could have been different,” he said.