No Maratha Quota For Govt Jobs, College Admissions Now, SC Refers Matter to Larger Bench

New Delhi: In a major development, the Supreme Court on Wednesday stayed the implementation of 2018 Maharashtra law granting reservation to Marathas in education and jobs and said the Martha quota for jobs or college admissions can’t be granted at this moment. While hearing the matter, the three-judge bench of the top court referred the Maratha quota matter to larger bench which will be set up by Chief Justice of India. The three-judge bench of Justices L Nageswara Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat said that the total quota now exceeds the 50 per cent cap set by the top court. Earlier, Maharashtra had passed a law which allowed 16 per cent quota in educational institutions and government jobs. Soon after the law was challenged, the Bombay High Court had upheld the constitutional validity of the law of the state. However, the court has cut down on the quantum of quota and said it was not “justifiable”. The Supreme Court on Wednesday put interim stay on reservation for Maratha community in government jobs and educational institutions for undergraduate courses in Maharashtra.

On July 27, the Maharashtra government had assured the top court that it would not proceed with the recruitment process to fill up the vacancies on the basis of 12 per cent Maratha reservation till September 15, except for departments, Public Health and Medical Education and Research.