Uddhav Thackeray Calls SC Striking Down Law Granting Reservation For Maratha Community As 'Unfortunate'

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray asserted that the legal battle for reservations to the Maratha community will continue till there is 'victory'.

CM Uddhav Thackeray (File Image)

Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday said that the Supreme Court decision to quash the 2018 law farmed by Maharashtra government, granting reservation to the Maratha community in government jobs and admissions in the state was “unfortunate”. The Maharashtra Chief Minister asserted that the legal battle for reservations to the Maratha community will continue till there is 'victory'.

He also said that the state government may not have the power to make a decision on the matter but he will urge PM Modi and the President to take an urgent call.

“With folded hands, I request the Prime Minister and the President to take an urgent decision. Earlier, the Centre had taken quick decisions on the Atrocities Act in connection with the Shah Bano case and on the abrogation of Article 370.

"It also made necessary amendments in the Constitution then. Now, the same promptness should be shown regarding the issue of Maratha reservation,” said CM Thackeray.

A five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan on Wednesday quashed Maharashtra law granting quota to Marathas in admissions and government jobs, terming it as unconstitutional", and held there were was no valid ground to breach the 50 per cent reservation cap set by the 1992 Mandal verdict.

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.