Bombay HC Bench Recuses From Hearing Pleas Against Maratha Quota

A division bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday recused itself from hearing a set of petitions that challenge the Maharashtra government’s move to issue Kunbi caste certificates to members of the Maratha community for availing reservation benefits.

The petitions were listed before a bench of Justices Revati Mohite Dere and Sandesh Patil. At the outset, Justice Patil said he would not be able to hear the matters, leading the bench to recuse without providing a reason. The petitions will now be placed before the bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad for hearing in due course.

Who Filed The Petitions?

Five petitions were filed by groups and individuals from the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), including:

1. Kunbi Sena
2. Maharashtra Mali Samaj Mahasangh
3. Ahir Suvarnkar Samaj Sanstha
4. Sadanand Mandalik
5. Maharashtra Nabhik Mahamandal

They argue that granting Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas would, in effect, place the community within the OBC category, thereby reducing opportunities for existing OBC groups.

Petitioners’ Concerns

The petitioners have called the government’s decision “arbitrary, unconstitutional and bad in law”, demanding that it be struck down.

The Kunbi Sena, in its plea, said the state’s government resolutions altered the criteria for issuing caste certificates for Kunbi, Kunbi Maratha, and Maratha Kunbi, and described them as “vague.”

“The decision is a circuitous method of granting caste certificates to the Maratha community from Other Backward Classes by a confusing and vague procedure, which is inclusion of the community in the OBC category,” the plea argued.

The petitioners further warned that the resolutions would lead to “utter chaos” in the caste certification system.

Background

The Maharashtra government’s decision came in the backdrop of quota activist Manoj Jarange’s hunger strike, which lasted five days beginning August 29 at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai. Jarange and his supporters staged demonstrations across several key areas, disrupting city life to the point that the Bombay High Court remarked Mumbai had been “paralysed and brought to a standstill.”

Following the protests, on September 2, the government issued a government resolution based on the Hyderabad gazetteer. The resolution allowed Marathas who could produce documentary evidence showing recognition as Kunbis in the past to obtain Kunbi caste certificates. The government also announced the formation of a committee to oversee the process.

With the bench’s recusal, the matter will now be taken up by the Chief Justice-led bench. The court will have to consider whether the state’s move to extend Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas amounts to an unconstitutional inclusion of the community within the OBC fold, a decision that could have far-reaching implications for reservation policy in Maharashtra.

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