The issue of Maratha reservation has refused to die down in Maharashtra. The Bombay High Court on Tuesday asked Maharashtra government if it was inclined to table a July 2008 report which had not favoured Maratha reservation in the State. The court was hearing a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in 2009, opposing reservation to the community. It had sought the tabling of the 22nd report of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission headed by retired Judge R M Bapat.
The report had opposed granting OBC status to Marathas. The government neither accepted nor rejected the report. It was not tabled in the legislature. The court asked the government on Tuesday why it had failed to take any decision on the tabling of the report, six years after it was submitted. The government has been directed to reply in three weeks’ time.
Recently, the government had also announced a cabinet decision granting 16 per cent reservation to the community. This cabinet decision too has been challenged in the Bombay High Court on the grounds that the Maratha community has been traditionally wealthy and powerful. The court was told by the State government on Monday that there was no question of implementing it immediately as it was not turned into legislation.
On Tuesday, advocate Sangharaj Rupwate appearing for petitioner Rajaram Kharat, said the government should soon table the Bapat committee report. The petition has said that the Marathas are not backward, and cannot be included in the Other Backward Classes category.
It further claimed that instead of tabling the Bapat committee report, the government set up a new committee under Justice (retired) B P Saraf. Four of the six members of Bapat committee had voted against including Marathas in the OBC classification.
