Maratha Kranti Morcha coordinator Vinod Patil has filed a review petition in the Supreme Court challenging its May 5 order cancelling the 12% quota in education and 13% in government jobs for the Maratha community.
The MVA govt will file the petition on June 24.
A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and Ravindra Bhat in its judgment had said that that people from the Maratha community cannot be declared as educationally and socially backward community to bring them within the reserved category.
Justice S Ravindra Bhat, who was supported by Justices L Nageswara Rao and Hemanta Gupta, formed the majority and said the President alone was empowered to identify SEBCs and include them in the Central list. However, Justices Ashok Bhushan and S Abdul Nazeer upheld the validity of the 102nd Constitution Amendment, saying that it did not affect the basic structure of the Constitution.
Thereafter, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray led a delegation and submitted a letter addressed to the President of India to Maharashtra Governor BS Koshyari on May 11. Thackeray’s letter said, “There is no doubt that our State is of the view that despite the 102nd Constitutional Amendment, our State continues to have power, authority and jurisdiction to identify the Maratha community as the SEBC. However, at this stage, such understanding of my State pales into insignificance, in view of the aforesaid authoritative pronouncement of law made by the Hon'ble Supreme Court.
“Following the Supreme Court’s decision rejecting the Maratha reservation, we had all decided to make a request to the Centre in this regard, and accordingly, we have met the Governor today and have taken the first step,” said Thackeray.
Public Works Minister Ashok Chavan, who heads the cabinet subcommittee on Maratha quota, urged the Centre to urge the Supreme Court to reconsider the 50 per cent reservation limit set in the Indira Sawhney case. “This is necessary as all the concerned states, including Maharashtra, had demanded an increase in the reservation limit,” he said.
