Maratha Reservation: CM Uddhav Thackeray holds review meeting; daily hearing in SC from July 27

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray recently held a review meeting to know about the status of the court matters on the Maratha reservation. He instructed the lawyers to present the government’s side strongly before the Supreme Court to defend the 16 per cent Maratha quota in jobs and education. 

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court refused interim stay on the decision of Bombay High Court upholding the Maratha reservation under Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) cleared by Maharashtra government in 2018. 

However, the Bombay HC last year had objected to the 16 per cent slab in Maratha quota and said that the same should not exceed 12 per cent in jobs and 13 per cent in education. This was recommended by the state backward classes commission. 

While refusing interim stay on the admission process of postgraduate medical courses, the apex court announced that it will start daily hearings on the petitions challenging the Maratha quota in Maharashtra from July 27 via video conferencing. 

On Thursday, Thackeray chaired the review meeting and said that government lawyers have presented their side strongly and have provided relief to the students. “The lawyers should now prepare to defend government’s side strongly in the next hearing,” the Chief Minister asserted. 

The Maharashtra government had appointed a cabinet sub-committee to tackle the issue related to Maratha quota. The sub-committee is headed by state Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Ashok Chavan. 

Chavan informed that Thackeray was briefed about the present status of court matters on the Maratha quota and discussed the government preparedness to defend the same in the next hearing. 

The petitioners through their lawyers have argued that the state doesn’t have the authority to create a separate class such as Maratha under SEBC while arguing that the Maratha quota breaches the 50 per cent limit set by the Supreme Court. 

A bench headed by Justice L Nageswara Rao said that final hearing on petitions will begin on July 27 on a day-to-day basis via video conferencing as the physical hearing was not possible due to the COVID-19 situation.