Published 23:01 IST, December 9th 2020
BJP slams MVA govt post SC's refusal to lift stay on Maratha quota; next hearing on Jan 25
BJP lashed out at the Maharashtra government after the SC refused to lift the stay on the Maratha reservation in public employment and educational institutions.
- India News
- 3 min read
On Wednesday, BJP lashed out at the Maharashtra government after the Supreme Court refused to lift the stay on the Maratha reservation in public employment and educational institutions. Earlier in the day, a 5-judge Constitution bench of the apex court comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat posted for January 25 the hearing of the petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2018. It also asked Attorney General KK Venugopal to assist the court on the issue.
According to Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil, the MVA government failed to provide sufficient socio-economic data on Marathas to its advocates to convincingly argue their case in the top court. Moreover, he alleged that there was no coordination between the Ministers and advocates. In a statement, Patil opined that the future of the Maratha community appeared to be grim now. On December 5, the state government announced that it had set up a coordination committee of 5 lawyers in connection with the hearing before the Constitution bench of the SC.
Maharashtra BJP president Chandrakant Patil remarked, "The government did not provide sufficient data to its advocates, who failed to make a strong pitch (in favour of quota)". He added, "Ministers and advocates did not even go to Delhi to make their arguments. There was no coordination among ministers and advocates".
SC verdict on Maratha quota
In the SEBC Act which came into force on November 30, 2018, the Maratha community has been declared as a 'Socially and Educational Backward Class'. While upholding the validity of this law, the Bombay High Court reduced the quantum of Maratha reservation to 12% in educational institutions and 13% in public employment. However, in its order delivered on September 9, a three-judge bench of SC prima facie held that the Maharashtra government has not shown any "extraordinary situation" for providing reservation to the Marathas.
Maintaining that the 50% reservation ceiling could be relaxed only in extraordinary situations, it added that the Maratha community comprising 30% of Maharashtra's population could not be compared to the marginalized sections of society living in remote areas of the state. Furthermore, the SC prima facie observed that the Bombay High Court had committed an error in treating certain circumstances as "extraordinary", justifying the relaxation of the reservation ceiling. It ruled that admission to educational institutions for the academic year 2020-21 and appointments to posts under the government will be made without references to the reservations provided in the Act.
(With PTI inputs)
Updated 23:01 IST, December 9th 2020