Supreme Court sends Maratha Quota matter to larger Bench

On Wednesday, the Apex Court imposed an interim stay on quotas in jobs & education to Marathas & referred the matter to a larger bench that is likely to examine if the controversial 2018 law, which breached the 50 per cent Supreme Court-mandated cap in caste-based reservation, was legal.

The 3-Judge bench order, which evoked sharp reactions from political leaders in Maharashtra, said admissions under the quota in post-graduate courses will remain unaltered. The matter will now be placed before CJI SA Bobde, for constitution of a larger bench.

The decision came on pleas challenging the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially & Educationally Backward Classes Act (SEBC Act) of 2018 that fulfilled a decades-old demand by the dominant community after a State Govt panel found the Marathas socially & economically backward.

The law originally provided 16 per cent quota but in June 2019, the High Court of Bombay trimmed the quantum of the quota to 12 per cent in education & 13 per cent in jobs, as recommended by the State Backward Classes Commission. In its order, the HC upheld the legislation’s constitutional validity & said the 50 per cent cap can be breached in exceptional circumstances, & if the quota was based on quantifiable data.

Soon after, petitioners moved the Apex Court & contended that the law breached the 50 per cent reservation threshold prescribed in the 1992 Indra Sawhney vs Union of India case. As that case was decided by a bench of 9 Judges, various parties sought reference of the case to a bench of eleven Judges to conclusively settle the issue.

On Aug 26, Senior Lawyer Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Maharashtra, said that the case will have to be heard by a Constitution bench as it involved substantial legal questions relating to reservation threshold. Senior Lawyer Kapil Sibal, appearing for an applicant supporting the law, had also demanded an 11-Judge bench.

“The matter has to go before an 11-judge bench. 50% criterion was evolved through judicial decision making. 85 percent (people) in Maharashtra belong to backward classes,” Sibal told the bench on Aug 26. He also submitted that reservation in 28 states exceed the 50 per cent threshold after the Parliament introduced 10 per cent reservation to Economically Weaker sections (EWS) by amending the Constitution in 2019.

In Maharashtra, many politicians said they were taken aback by the decision. Maharashtra minister Ashok Chavan said the decision was “unexpected & shocking”. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called it a “black day” for Marathas. “The MVA [Maha Vikas Aghadi] could not ensure the reservation held ground before the Supreme Court,” state BJP chief Chandrakant Patil told reporters. 

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