SC to hear curative petition, window opened for Maratha reservation, says CM Shinde

The Supreme Court has decided to hear the curative petition filed against the scrapping of reservation given to the Maratha community on January 24. The decision has given hope to the Maharashtra state government, which is facing pressure from Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil, who announced the resumption of his hunger strike from January 20. The government is working to prove that the Maratha community is educationally, economically, and socially backward in order to restore the reservation.

MUMBAI: Even as Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil announced the resumption of his hunger strike from January 20, a window of hope opened for the beleaguered state government on Saturday. The Supreme Court has decided to hear the curative petition filed against the scrapping of the reservation given to the Maratha community on January 24.

A relieved Eknath Shinde thanked the Supreme Court. “A window has been opened by the Supreme Court for restoration of the Maratha quota,” he said in a statement released on Saturday.l (HT PHOTO)

A relieved Eknath Shinde thanked the Supreme Court. “A window has been opened by the Supreme Court for restoration of the Maratha quota,” he said in a statement released on Saturday. “A team of our legal experts is working hard to prove in the apex court that the Maratha community is educationally, economically and socially backward. We will try our best to get the reservation restored.”

The chief minister was referring to a Supreme Court order issued on Saturday which states, ‘Circulate the curative petitions on January 24.’ The petitions will be heard by a four-judge bench, including Chief Justice Dhananjaya Chandrachud.

A curative petition is one which requests the apex court to review its own decision after a review petition has been dismissed. Reservation for the Maratha community was quashed by the Supreme Court on May 5, 2021. A review petition filed by the state government was also dismissed on April 21, 2023. The state government and Vinod Patil, an activist from the Maratha community who has been fighting a court battle, have filed curative petitions independently.

The development has come on the eve of the December 24 deadline set by Jarange-Patil for the state government to decide on his demand to include all Marathas in the Other Backward Classes (OBC) by issuing them Kunbi certificates. Kunbi is a sub-caste of the community that gets a quota under the OBC category. The demand was not accepted by the government, following which Jarange-Patil announced that he would resume his agitation, this time with an indefinite hunger strike at Azad Maidan in Mumbai.

The activist’s demand has also led to tension between the Maratha and OBC communities, as the latter has strongly opposed the demand to bring all Marathas under the OBC umbrella. OBC leaders like Chhagan Bhujbal have also been holding rallies in the state, warning of a backlash from the community if the state government accepts Jarange-Patil’s demand. Against this background, the ruling parties are hoping that the issue gets resolved with the apex court’s decision to hear the merits of the curative petition.

However, senior officials in the state government said it was still unclear whether the SC would hold a hearing in an open court or in the chamber. “In a curative petition, the court can hold a hearing in the chamber of the chief justice as well,” said a senior official from the law and judiciary department. “The order is silent on the nature of the hearing. Until we get clarity on this, we will not be able to say anything with certainty.”

In his statement, Shinde said that the state government had approached the backward classes commission to collect empirical data on a large scale to prove the backwardness of the Maratha community. “Considering the observation made by the Supreme Court earlier (while quashing the reservation), we are now collecting data which will help to put forth our contention strongly,” he said. The CM also blamed the previous Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government for the Supreme Court decision, saying it had failed to fight the case properly.

Shinde appealed to the Maratha community to observe restraint, maintain peace and prevent tension between its members and the OBCs. “It is the responsibility of all of us to maintain peace in the state and avoid anything that will lead to tension among communities,” he said. “I assure you that the government will do its best to get Maratha reservation restored.”