HC orders state to reply to petition of terminated staff over Maratha quota

The Bombay high court (HC) has directed the state to respond to a petition filed on behalf of state government employees who were issued termination notices in September

The Bombay high court (HC) has directed the state to respond to a petition filed on behalf of state government employees who were issued termination notices in September so that persons from the SEBC category could be accommodated in their place. The petitioners had been hired after 2014 in the open category, to posts reserved for Marathas, on condition that the jobs would be dependent on the HC order pertaining to Maratha reservation.

HT Image

Advocate for the 15 staff, Gunaratan Sadavarte submitted that though the Supreme Court (SC) said that reservations under the SEBC quota could not be applied retrospectively, the state had violated the same.

However, the state had come out with a government resolution (GR) on July 11, wherein the services of persons appointed after 2014 from the open category to unfilled posts meant for Marathas, would be terminated to accommodate the latter. The GR had been challenged and the state had informed the HC that it would issue a new GR in this regard.

Sadavarte submitted to the division bench of justices Ranjit More and MS Karnik, that despite assurances, some zilla parishad authorities had violated the SC order and issued termination notices to the petitioners.