The Supreme Court on Friday declined to stay a Bombay High Court judgment which upheld the reservation provided to Maratha community in education and government jobs in Maharashtra. However, a Bench led by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi directed the State of Maharashtra to refrain from implementing the quota with retrospective effect from 2014.
The direction came after senior advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, for one of the petitioners, submitted that Maharashtra is moving to use the quota law retrospectively from 2014 to fill up about 70,000 government vacant posts.
The Bench issued notice on a batch of petitions, including that by NGO Youth for Equality, which have challenged the decision allowing 12-13% quota to Maratha community under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act. They have argued that the move is seriously erroneous as the State law has breached the 50% cap on reservation fixed by a Constitution Bench in the Indira Sawhney judgment.
‘Law defies equality’
The petitioners argued that the reservation law was enacted under “political pressure” and in “full defiance” of the rule of law and equality. According to the 102nd amendment to the Constitution, reservation can be granted only if the community is in the list prepared by the President. “Maharashtra government has made a mockery of the rule of law. It has also used its constitutional powers arbitrarily and purely for political gains,” the petition said.
