Updated: September 10, 2020 10:45:07 am
The Marathas are a politically dominant community constituting 32% of the population of Maharashtra.
The Supreme Court on Wednesday referred to a Bank of the Constitution the question of whether states can exceed the 50% limit on installments that was established by a bench of nine judges in the landmark Indra Sawhney v. Union of India (1992) case. The issue will now be examined by a court made up of at least 11 judges.
Supreme Court case
A bench of judges L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat heard a series of petitions challenging the Marathas reserves on education and employment in Maharashtra. The petitions appealed a 2019 Bombay High Court decision upholding the constitutional validity of the Maratha quota under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act (ESCB) 2018. The Court also heard a petition challenging admission to Medical and dental graduate courses under the fee in the state.
A Superior Court divisional court ruled last year that the state’s 16% quota was not “justifiable” and lowered it to 12% in education and 13% in government jobs, as recommended by the Class Commission. Delayed State of Maharashtra (MSBCC). The Court ruled that “the reserve limit must not exceed 50%”; however, “in exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations, this limit can be crossed subject to the availability of quantifiable and contemporary data that reflect lags, insufficient representation and without affecting the efficiency of the administration.” The court relied heavily on the findings of the 11-member MSBCC, which presented in November 2018 that the Maratha community is socially, economically and educationally backward.
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Existing reservation
After the State Reserve Act of 2001, the total reserve in Maharashtra was 52%: registered castes (13%), registered tribes (7%), other backward classes (19%), special backward class (2%) , Vimukti Jati (3%), Nomadic Tribe B (2.5%), Nomadic Tribe C-Dhangar (3.5%) and Nomadic Tribe D-Vanjari (2%). Quotas for nomadic tribes and backward special classes have been taken from the total OBC quota. With the addition of 12-13% of the Maratha quota, the total reserve in the state rose to 64-65%. The 10% fee for Economically Weakest Sections (EWS) announced by the Center last year is also effective in the state.
The Marathas
the Marathas they are a politically dominant community constituting 32% of the population of Maharashtra. Historically they have been identified as a caste of “warriors” with large estates. Eleven of the 19 top ministers of the state so far have been Marathas. While land division and agrarian problems over the years have led to declining prosperity among middle and lower middle class Marathas, the community continues to play an important role in the rural economy.
Discontent in the community could escalate to protests and riots if the quota problem is not resolved soon. In 2016-17, the Maratha Kranti Morcha (MKM) led 58 silent protests demanding reservations. The second phase of the protest saw a series of suicides. The backward region of Marathwada was the hardest hit by the protests.
Political pulls, pressures
All three parties in the ruling coalition, Congress, NCP and Shiv Sena are in favor of the Maratha quota. The subcommittee for the Maratha reserve headed by Ashok Chavan has maintained that they had hired the best lawyers to defend their case in the CS. The state government can be expected to explore all options to restore the quota. The MKM has described the suspension of the quota as “extremely unfortunate”. The organization holds the government responsible for failing to present its case well to the higher court.
The opposition BJP has seen a political opportunity and is preparing to use the events to consolidate its political base among the Maratha community and make inroads into Congress and the NCP strongholds in western Maharashtra and Marathwada. Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi Chairman Prakash Ambedkar said the court order does not affect CBOs, which were never against the Maratha reservation. However, the reserve for Marathas should not be at the cost of the existing quota for OBC.
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