Maratha Reservation Verdict: SC Strikes Down Law For Exceeding 50% Cap In Education & Jobs

A five-judge Supreme Court bench dismissed the writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of a Maharashtra law that grants reservation to the Maratha community in education and jobs.

Supreme Court

Supreme Court on Wednesday struck down the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018. The top court's five-judge Constitution bench dismissed the writ petition challenging the constitutional validity of a Maharashtra law that grants reservation to the Maratha community in education and jobs.

Justice Bhushan, reading out the judgement said that with respect to Article 342-A, we have upheld the Constitutional Amendment and it does not violate any Constitutional provision and therefore, we have dismissed the writ petition challenging the Maratha Reservation. 

The judge said that there were no extraordinary circumstances to grant reservation to Maratha community over and above the 50 percent ceiling on reservation prescribed by the Supreme Court in its 1992 judgment in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India. He added that the court does not find any reason in revisiting Indira Sawhney judgment. 

Supreme Court in its verdict said that there was no valid ground to breach 50 per cent reservation while granting Maratha reservation. 

The apex court also made it clear in its judgement that people from the Maratha community cannot be declared as educationally and socially backward community to bring them within the reserved category.

According to reports, the court in its ruling noted that that neither the Gaikwad Commission report nor the judgment of the Bombay High Court has made out an extraordinary situation in the case of Marathas so as to exceed the ceiling of 50 percent.