Past court orders say en masse Maratha reservation not possible

Mumbai officials warn that past court rulings may hinder Maratha quota demands, stating mass Kunbi certification could be socially absurd.

MUMBAI: Even as the government sub-committee on reservation negotiates with Maratha quota activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, some government officials have cited earlier judgements which show that it is not possible to give all Marathas Kunbi certificates and en masse reservation. The officials said these judgements could be the main obstacle in the present-day Maratha reservation tangle, and have also briefed the cabinet sub-committee led by minister Radhakrishna Vikhe Patil on this.

Past court orders say en masse Maratha reservation not possible

The officials cited the case of a certain Balasaheb Rangnath Chavan who was given a Kunbi certificate in 2001, upon which a complaint was filed by Jagannath Hole in the Bombay high court. On October 17, 2003, high court judges B H Marlapalle and A S Bagga, in their order, said that if the certificate was accepted, then the entire Maratha community would have to be given Kunbi certificate, which would be a “social absurdity”.

Chavan approached the Supreme Court against the HC order. On April 15, 2005, Justices B N Aggarwal and P K Balasubrahmanyam upheld the HC decision, saying they did not want to intervene.

Around the same time, another case, Suhas Dashrathe vs State, came up before the Bombay high court before Justices B H Marlapalle and N V Dabholkar. Government sources said that the order, passed on October 6, 2002, declared that giving reservation to all Marathas as Kunbis could be against stark social realities.