The Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear a plea regarding Maratha reservation in July. The issue was raised for urgent listing before a bench comprising Justices KV Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh.
The counsel for the petitioner cited a June 11 order from the Bombay High Court (HC), which had decided to hear the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Maratha reservation law starting July 18. The lawyer also noted that the Supreme Court had previously directed the HC to constitute a bench and consider interim relief in the matter, reported news agency PTI.
He said the Bombay HC declined to grant any interim relief in the matter and would continue to hear the matter.
The top court posted the matter on July 14.
A special bench of the HC was constituted last month to hear and decide the pleas related to the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backwards Classes (SEBC) Act, 2024.
The 2024 law, which provided 10 per cent reservation in education and government jobs to the Maratha community, constituting nearly one-third of Maharashtra`s population, had been at the forefront of political discourse last year during the Lok Sabha and the assembly elections.
Last year, a full bench headed by then Bombay HC Chief Justice DK Upadhyaya commenced hearing the challenge to the law on the ground that the Maratha community was not a backwards one that requires benefits of reservation.
The pleas also claimed that Maharashtra has already crossed the 50 per cent cap on reservation.
However, the hearing came to a standstill after Chief Justice Upadhyaya was transferred to the Delhi HC in January.
On May 14, the apex court directed the Bombay HC to constitute a special bench and urgently hear the matter.
In March 2024, when the petitions against the reservation were filed, the HC in an interim order said that applications for NEET 2024 admission to undergraduate medical courses, in which a 10 per cent reservation granted to members of the Maratha community was applicable, would be subject to further orders in the pleas challenging the law, according to news agency PTI.
On April 16, 2024, the full bench also clarified that till further orders, any applications for admissions to educational institutions or jobs at government authorities taking benefit of the Act will be subject to further orders in the present proceedings.
The SEBC Act was passed on February 20 last year.
It was formulated by the then-chief minister Eknath Shinde-led government based on a report of the retired Justice Sunil Shukre-led Maharashtra State Backwards Class Commission (MSBCC) that found “exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations exist” to grant reservation to the Maratha community in excess of 50 per cent total reservation in the state, reported PTI.
In December 2018, a batch of petitions was filed in the high court challenging the earlier SEBC Act of 2018 that granted Marathas 16 per cent reservation in government jobs and education.
In June 2018, the high court upheld the 2018 Act but reduced the quota to 12 per cent in education and 13 per cent in government jobs.
This was challenged in the apex court, which in May 2021 struck down the entire Act.
A review petition filed by the Maharashtra government was also rejected by the Supreme Court in May 2023.
(With PTI inputs)