The incident happened when the lawyer was speaking to media outside the high court premise. The attacker stepped forward shouting slogan - 'Ek Maratha, Lakh Maratha', he then hit Sadavarte.
The attacker was immediately caught by policemen and lawyers. He was identified as Vaijnath Patil, a resident of Jalna district of the Marathwada region. Patil, an unemployed youth, has been detained and investigations were in progress.
Sadavarte's petition is before a division bench of the Bombay High Court comprising Chief Justice Naresh Patil and Justice MS Karnik. The PIL of Sadavarte had pointed out that the Supreme Court had mandated a 50% cap on the reservation.
"I have received over 100 threats till now," said Sadavarte after the attack.
Last month, the Maharashtra legislature unanimously decided to give 16% reservation to the Maratha community under a new category, Socially & Economically Backward Class, over and above the already existing 52 % reservation.
Maharashtra Governor CH Vidyasagar Rao has already cleared and signed the bill.
Meanwhile, Maratha Kranti Morcha convenor Virendra Pawar said that Sadavarte's petition is to seek publicity.