Bombay high court stays Maratha, Muslim reservations in government jobs

The Bombay high court on Friday stayed the 16 per cent reservation to Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions, announced by the erstwhile Congress- NCP government, ahead of the assembly elections.

A division bench of chief justice Mohit Shah and MS Sonak also stayed the 5 per cent reservation to Muslims in government service, but allowed quotas for them in state- owned or aided educational institutions, saying the community suffers from high dropout rate and the youth need to be brought to mainstream education.

On Maratha reservation, the court observed that the community was a "socially advanced and prestigious community".

The court, however, clarified that admissions already granted in educational institutions (under the quotas) shall not be disturbed.

"Those students will be allowed to complete their respective courses," added the HC.

Why did the HC stay it?
The HC said the Supreme Court has already ruled that reservations states cannot exceed 50 per cent, except in extraordinary circumstances for which justification has to be made.

How much reservation is there now?
Already, there is 52 per cent reservation in government jobs and educational institutions in the state. However, in the run-up to the assembly polls, the Congress-NCP government had raised it to 73 per cent by announcing 16 per cent quota for Marathas and 5 per cent for Muslims in July 2014.

Which reports describe Marathas as prospero
While staying reservation for Marathas, the HC noted that the Second Backward Class Commission Report (Mandal Report, 1990), National Commission for Backward Class report of February 25, 2000, and the report of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (Bapat Report of July 2008) have held that the Maratha community cannot be termed backward.

In fact, the reports have concluded that the Maratha community is a "socially advanced and prestigious community".

The HC observed that the Rane committee report, on which the government relied while granting reservation to the Marathas, "suffers from several glaring flaws".

The court was of the view that comparative data provided by the government justified its decision to introduce reservation for Muslims in government educational institutions. It, however, excluded private educational bodies from reservation.

While allowing reservation to Muslims, the HC observed that the government had spelt out the case for an "extraordinary situation" in which it exceeded the limit of 50 per cent.

The judges said reservation on private unaided educational institutions "constitutes an unreasonable restriction upon the fundamental rights under Article 19(1)(g) to establish and run educational institutes".

The PILs challenging the reservation were filed by social activist Ketan Tirodkar from NGO Youth for Equality, and Anil Thanekar and IS Gilada of Indian Health Organisation and others.

The HC has kept the PILs for final hearing on January 5, 2015.

The HC also rejected the government's request to stay the order for four weeks to allow them to approach the Supreme Court.

The Congress-NCP government had passed an ordinance on July 9 and a resolution on July 15 granting reservations to Marathas and Muslims contending that the two communities were socially and educationally backward and also economically poor.

It said the decision was based on the report of a committee headed by former minister Narayan Rane.

The government said it had taken into consideration the recommendations of the Rajinder Sachar committee and Mahmoodur Rahman committee, both of which had recommended reservation for Muslims.