Recruitment, admissions under Maratha quota subject to further order, says HC

Declining to stay the advertisements inviting applications for government jobs and admissions to medical courses under the 10% Maratha reservation, the Bombay high court on Friday clarified that the final decision shall be subject to a further order on a bunch of petitions against the quota.
A division bench of justice GS Kulkarni and justice Firdosh Pooniwalla issued the clarification since the deadline for applying for NEET (National Eligibility cum Entrance Test), which decides on the allotment of MBBS seats to aspirants, is March 9.
The petitioner, Gunratan Sadavarte, had approached the HC challenging the constitutional validity of the enactment. At an urgent hearing on Tuesday, the bench sought a response from the state government and postponed the matter to Friday.
On Thursday, another bench, headed by chief justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyaya, heard a similar petition. Advocate general Dr Birendra Saraf, representing the state government, filed an application seeking to club all such petitions and urged the chief justice to assign it to a bench.
Since the chief justice is yet to take a call, the bench of justices Kulkarni and Pooniwalla on Friday adjourned Sadavarte’s petition to February 12 for further hearing on interim reliefs.
Sadavarte has sought a temporary stay on the enactment granting 10% reservation to Marathas under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category. Passed on February 20, with the governor’s assent on February 26, the law was based on recommendations from the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), headed by retired high court judge justice Sunil Shukre.
His petition has claimed that with a 72% reservation in the state, only 38% in government jobs and seats in educational institutes are available to the general category. Sadavarte has also argued against justice Shukre’s appointment.
Social activist Bhausaheb Pawar has filed a similar petition along with advocate Jaishree Laxmanrao Patil. They have challenged the validity of the MSBCC report and argued that the 10% Maratha reservation exceeds the prescribed limit of 50%, set by the Supreme Court.
Mangesh Sasane, chairman of the Other Backward Class Welfare Community, has challenged issuance of Kunbi certificates to Marathas that would entitle them to quota benefits earmarked for the Other Backward Class people. Advocate Ashish Mishra has challenged the appointment of justice Shukre as chairman of MSBCC, alleging conflict of interest.