Supreme Court to hear plea on Maratha reservation in Maharashtra in July

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday decided to hear in July a plea over the issue of Maratha reservation in Maharashtra.

The matter came up for urgent listing before a bench of Justices K V Viswanathan and N Kotiswar Singh.

The counsel appearing in the case referred to a June 11 order of the Bombay High Court deciding to hear afresh the pleas against the constitutional validity of the law providing Maratha reservation from July 18.

The lawyer informed the bench that the apex court had previously asked the high court to constitute a bench and hear the matter on interim relief.

He said the high court declined granting any interim relief in the matter and would continue to hear the matter.

The top court posted the matter in the July 14 week.

A special bench of the high court was constituted last month to hear and decide the pleas related to the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward 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 high court Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya commenced hearing the challenge to the law on the ground that the Maratha community was not a backward 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 High Court in January.

On May 14, the apex court directed the high court to constitute a special bench and urgently hear the matter.

In March last year, when the petitions against the reservation were filed, the high court 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.

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 then chief minister Eknath Shinde-led government based on a report of the retired Justice Sunil Shukre-led Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC) that found "exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations exist" to grant reservation to Maratha community in excess of 50 per cent total reservation in the state.

In December 2018, a batch of petitions were 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.