Supreme Court strikes down Maratha quota in Maharashtra, terms it 'unconstitutional'

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court on Wednesday cancelled the reservation for Maratha community in government jobs and educational institutions, saying it exceeded the 50 per cent cap imposed earlier.

In its judgment, a five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan made it clear that people from the Maratha community cannot be declared as educationally and socially backward to bring them within the reserved category.

The top court said it did not find any exceptional circumstance to justify exceeding the 50 per cent cap set by Indra Sawhney judgment. "Exceeding ceiling limit of 50 percent laid down by Indra Sawhney is violative of Articles 14 and 15," said the top court.

The unanimous judgment was delivered by a bench also comprising Justices L. Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S. Ravindra Bhat.

The Centre had told the Supreme Court that it is of view that the Maharashtra government can grant reservation to Maratha community in public education and employment.

The hearing in the matter saw submissions being made on whether the landmark 1992 Indra Sawhney verdict (called the Mandal judgement), which capped reservation by 50 per cent, requires re-consideration by a larger bench.

Several states, including Karnataka, have expressed support for more than 50 percent reservation in jobs and education, depending upon the necessity and quantifiable data.

They had cited the 103rd Constitutional Amendment on 10 percent Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota, to contend the Constitution itself now permitted reservation beyond 50 percent.

Petitioners who have challenged the Maratha quota said there was no need to reconsider the nine-judge bench in the Indra Sawhney case.

A batch of petitions challenged the Bombay High Court verdict which upheld 12 to 13 per cent reservations for Marathas in jobs and education under the Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.

In December last year, the top court had declined to modify the stay order in implementing reservation for Marathas in job and education in Maharashtra.

(With agency inputs)