Maratha quota: Supreme Court against rollout with retro effect

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Friday allowed the Maharashtra government to press on with its 16% quota for Marathas but also categorically told the state to desist from implementing it with retrospective effect.

The Bombay High Court had on May 27, 2019, upheld the state law providing for this. The state has since pressed on with the move. It has been challenged in the courts.

Some petitions came up before a bench led by CJI Ranjan Gogoi on Friday. The CJI refused a stay on the reservation but asked the state not to implement it with retrospective effect.


The quota has been challenged on many grounds – including the fact that it now has led to a situation in which reservations in Maharashtra have crossed the court mandated 50% cap. The court had in the Mandal commission case laid down a 50% cap for quotas with the balance to be given under merit.

Many states, including Tamil Nadu and Odisha have since violated the 50% quota rule. A bunch of petitions challenging these are still pending in the court.

When the court convened to discuss the matter, senior advocate Gopal Shankaranarayan told the bench led by the CJI that there was an urgent need for a stay on quotas. At least six reports have consistently held that the Marathas — who constitute 30% of the population — were not backward in the state, he contended.