HC constitutes special bench to hear pleas challenging Maratha reservation

Hindustan Times

17-05-2025

MUMBAI: The Bombay high court on Thursday constituted a three-judge bench to hear a batch of petitions challenging the 10% reservation granted to the Maratha community under the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2024. The bench will comprise justices Ravindra Ghuge, NJ Jamadar and Sandeep Marne.
The move comes days after the Supreme Court asked the chief justice of the Bombay high court to expedite the hearing of these petitions due to their impact on thousands of students, particularly those appearing for the 2025 National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) postgraduate and undergraduate exams.
According to a writ petition filed by students in the Supreme Court, the Bombay high court had heard their pleas and arguments had concluded in April last year, but the matter had not been listed since. Back then, the matter was last heard by a bench led by the chief justice of the Bombay high court at the time, DK Upadhyaya, but he was transferred to the Delhi high court in January 2025. The students argued that the delay in adjudicating the matter was adversely impacting their right to fair and equal consideration in the ongoing admission process.
Several petitioners have challenged the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2024, which reintroduced a quota for the dominant Maratha community in government jobs and admissions to higher educational institutions, over and above existing reservations for other communities. The Act designated the Maratha community as a Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) and justified exceeding the Supreme Court-mandated 50% reservation ceiling by citing 'exceptional circumstances' such as economic distress.
However, the petitioners argued that the Act was unconstitutional because a five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court had in May 2021 struck down the law's predecessor—the Maharashtra Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018—which granted a 16% quota to Marathas. The bench had declared the Act unconstitutional, primarily for breaching the 50% reservation ceiling and for lacking sufficient evidence to justify the Maratha community's backwardness.
The landmark 2021 judgement, delivered in the Jaishri Laxmanrao Patil vs Maharashtra chief minister case, influenced subsequent Maratha quota agitations and led to the state government introducing the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2024, which reintroduced a 10% quota for Marathas. The Bill was passed by the Maharashtra legislative assembly in February 2024, months before the Lok Sabha elections.
After the law was challenged in the Bombay high court, a bench led by the then chief justice DK Upadhyaya had said in April 2024 that the applications for admissions to educational courses or recruitment to government jobs by availing the Maratha quota would be subject to further orders on petitions challenging the reservation.