BOMBAY HIGH COURT PERMITS 10% MARATHA QUOTA FOR THIS YEAR PENDING FINAL VERDICT; SATURDAY HEARINGS SCHEDULED:

A newly constituted three-judge bench of the Bombay High Court on Wednesday observed that the interim order passed last year, which allowed the Maratha community to avail of 10% reservation in education and employment, will continue this year as well. This continuation is, however, subject to the final outcome of the petitions challenging the 2024 Maratha quota law.

The full bench, led by Justice Ravindra Ghuge and also comprising Justices Nizamoodin Jamadar and Sandeep Marne, indicated its intention to conduct special sittings on alternate Saturdays to hear final arguments in the matter. The bench explained, “All three of us are part of different division benches and you all are aware of the pendency in the principal seat of this court. So we think, we can hear your arguments on every alternate Saturdays, though it not being court working days but we will come and sit and hear you.” Accordingly, the matter was listed for July 18 (Friday) for the commencement of final arguments. Justice Ghuge further stated, “On July 18, we commence from 3 PM till 5 PM and then on Saturday (July 19) we sit from 11 AM and hear you full day (till 5PM).”

During the hearing, senior advocate Pradeep Sancheti, appearing for petitioner Sanjeet Shukla, urged the court to first hear the parties on the point of interim relief. He contended that the interim relief granted in April 2024 to the Maratha community was applicable only for the year 2024, as the then full bench led by then Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyay had already commenced the final hearing in June last year. However, this request was opposed by Advocate General Dr. Birendra Saraf, who argued that the bench need not hear arguments on interim relief again since detailed submissions were already made before the earlier bench.

The judges also expressed their disagreement with Sancheti’s contention, stating that rehearing arguments on the point of interim relief would, in effect, amount to virtually hearing the final arguments. Justice Ghuge remarked, “If your contention not to continue the interim relief and exclude the persons, who would otherwise be eligible for reservation, from the admission or selection process, would mean staying the entire Act itself and it will change the entire scenario. Therefore, we are of the opinion that the interim relief will continue even for this year's admissions and recruitment subject to outcome of these petitions.”

The impugned law was passed by the Maharashtra legislature on February 20, 2024, and notified on February 26, 2024, based on a report submitted by the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) led by Justice (retired) Sunil B. Shukre. The MSBCC report cited “exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations” as justification for granting reservation to the Maratha community, thereby exceeding the 50% total reservation cap in the state.

Previously, the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 enacted by the Devendra Fadnavis-led government had granted Marathas a 16% reservation in government jobs and education. While the Bombay High Court upheld the SEBC Act in June 2019, it ruled that the 16% quota was unjustifiable and reduced it to 12% in education and 13% in government jobs. This decision was challenged in the Supreme Court by Patil and others. In May 2021, a Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court struck down the SEBC Act, 2018, holding that no extraordinary circumstances justified separate reservation for the Marathas in excess of the 50% ceiling established by the 1992 Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment. The apex court also questioned the adequacy of the empirical data used to establish the Maratha community’s social backwardness.

The Maharashtra government subsequently filed a review petition, which was dismissed in April 2023. A curative petition was then filed and is currently pending before the Supreme Court.