Marathas hope to get quota back
MUMBAI: The Maratha community is hopeful of revival of their reservation, after the Centre filed a review petition in the Supreme Court (SC) for reconsideration of the order related to states’ powers to list backward classes after the 102nd Constitutional amendment.
Community members feel if the top court reviews its verdict on states’ powers, the Maharashtra government can revisit the other grounds on which the quota has been struck down. On the other hand, in the absence of the quota, the community has also started building pressure on the government for implementation of the sops announced for the community.
The Centre filed a review petition in the SC on Thursday, pleading it to reconsider its May 5 judgment, which ruled that after the Constitutional amendment in 2018, state governments have no power to draw up their own list of backward classes. The Marathas were given 12% and 13% quota in education and government jobs, respectively, under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.
The SC quashed it, stating people from the community cannot be declared educationally and socially backward just to bring them in the reserved category.
The five-judge SC bench also refused to refer the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment that set a 50-% cap on reservation to a larger bench for reconsideration. The Maharashtra government has appointed an eightmember committee under retired high court judge Dilip Bhosale to study the SC order and recommend the way forward.
“If the top court reviews its verdict, confirming that the powers with the state governments are intact, the ball will again be in the court of the Maharashtra government. Currently, in the wake of the SC order, it is dangling between the state and Centre. Now, the state will have to take a call whether to go for the review of the order related to the findings of the Gaikwad committee, which was the basis of the SEBC quota, or conduct a survey again to establish the backwardness of the community. The committee appointed under the retired high court judge can give recommendations to the state on these fronts,” said an official from Mantralaya.
Legal experts also see hope. “The Central government has clarified that the state government’s powers related to reservation were intact. Once their claim is admitted, the Maharashtra government will have the options of appointing a fresh commission to look into the backwardness of the community and conduct the survey again, keeping the SC’S remarks in mind. Even the lacunae in the report, pointed out by the court, could be revisited and revised to establish “exceptional and extraordinary circumstances” to accord the reservation. If it is done, there would be no question of following the 50-% cap on reservation,” said advocate Abhijit Patil, one of the members of coordination committee of lawyers appointed for reservation.
Public works department minister and head of the cabinet sub-committee on Maratha reservation Ashok Chavan demanded the Centre file a review petition in the SC for its verdict on the 50-% cap. “We had demanded the Centre’s intervention for a review of the Indra Sawhney verdict, which caps the reservation to 50%. We had demanded the case be transferred to an 11-judge constitution bench. We again urge the Centre to file a review petition for reconsideration of the cap on reservation,” Chavan said on Friday.
Bharatiya Janata Party’s state unit chief Chandrakant Patil said the state should announce a ₹3,000-crore package to ensure benefits of the other backward classes to Marathas.
“Until the reservation is given again, the Maharashtra Vikas Aghadi government should immediately start implementing the benefits and schemes meant for backward classes for the Maratha community. Our government had rolled out the package for the community in the wake of the prolonged process of reservation in 2017,” he said.
The community has relaunched its agitation through digital platforms to push for reservation. “We want the state government to take all steps to restore the reservation. The government should tap the legal options available. We have also been pressing for appointment letters to 2,185 youth from the community who have been selected for various posts, but could not get the letters before the stay on reservation. The state should seriously implement the schemes announced to extend the reservation benefits to the community,” said Virendra Pawar of Maratha Kranti Morcha.