Bombay HC upholds Maratha reservations, wants it reduced to 12-13%

The Bombay High Court on Thursday approved reservations for Marathas in education and government jobs under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category, but said it should be reduced from 16 to 12-13%.

Judges Bharati Dangre and Ranjit More in their ruling said the state had powers to give the reservation and that even though there was a bar on quotas exceeding 50%, the state could go about this under exceptional circumstances.

The court said the Marathas were a socially and educationally backward community according to the State Backward Class Commission report and that it could be given 12-13% reservation.


The Maharashtra government had on November 30 last year cleared a bill unanimously in the state legislature that gave Maratha 16% reservation in education and jobs under a newly created Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category. Several petitions were filed in the high court challenging the reservation, as it pushed the quota in the state to a whopping 68%.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while giving details of the judgement in the state assembly said that the Court had said that this reservation will have to be brought down to 12 % for education and 13% reservation for jobs.

Fadnavis thanked everyone involved in bringing the bill and said that the state is happy that the HC has accepted its contention that the state has powers to give reservations. It has also accepted the state’s argument that the state can give exceed the 50% limit under the ‘extraordinary’ and ‘exceptional circumstances’.

The petitions challenging the quota decision had argued it violated the Supreme Court's orders which laid down that reservation in any state should not exceed more than 50 per cent.

The government, while defending its decision, had said that it was meant to alleviate the Maratha community, which it said was socially and economically backward.