New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday refused to stay the reservation in Maharashtra to the Maratha community in education and government jobs but agreed to hold the final hearing on it from March 17 without allowing any adjournment.
A Bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao and Deepak Gupta felt the stay was unnecessary since "already there is an order that appointments will be subject to the outcome on the petition" challenging the Maratha reservation.
The Bench was hearing two appeals, including one filed by J Laxman Rao Patil, challenging the Bombay High Court's order on June 27, upholding the constitutional validity of the Maratha quota.
The Maharashtra Assembly had passed the Maratha reservation bill on November 30, extending 16% reservation to the Marathas in the higher educational institutions and the state government jobs.
Senior advocate Gopalshankar Narayan unsuccessfully sought the stay on the ground that Maharashtra already had 65% reservation in education and 62% in jobs that exceeded 50% cap slapped by the top court in the total reservations. The High Court had ruled that the 50% cap stipulated by the Supreme Court can be exceeded in exceptional circumstances.
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