A lawyer who is opposing the reservation to the Maratha community was attacked outside the Bombay High Court on Monday.
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.
Published 10 December 2018, 15:24 IST