Bombay High Court declines request for hearing each day in quota petitions for Maratha reservation

The Bombay High Court on November 5 declined a request to hear each day a set of petitions on a quota of 10% for Marathas in education and service under the State. The court said hearing will continue on November 27. The document in the case is PIL 30 of 2024, Bhausaheb Bhujangrao Pawar vs State of Maharashtra.

A Bench of Justices Makarand Karnik, Nijamoodin Jamadar and Sandeep Marne passed the order. The Bench said it considered the request. It said efforts were being made to give priority to the PIL and matters that relate to it.

It said a session for hearing was being assigned at intervals after taking into account work load from assignments. It said the matters were being heard at intervals. It said it would not accede to the request. The Bench was constituted in September and has heard the matter four times since September 18, 2026.

It has heard submissions from advocate Arvind Datar for a petitioner who challenges the quota. It is hearing petitioners. The legislature passed the Act on February 20, 2024, and it was subsequently notified on February 26, 2024.

The Act rests on a report of the commission under Justice Sunil Shukre. The report cited circumstances and situations as reason to grant reservation to Marathas beyond the 50% limit. A petitioner moved the Bombay High Court against the SEBC Act, 2018, enacted by the government under Devendra Fadnavis.

That law gave Marathas 16% reservation in employment under the State and in education. The High Court upheld the law in June 2019. It held that justification did not exist for the 16% quota and reduced it to 12% in education and 13% in employment under the State.

Patil and others challenged that verdict in the Supreme Court. In May 2021, a Bench of the Supreme Court struck down the SEBC Act, 2018. It held that no circumstances justified reservation for Marathas beyond the 50% ceiling set by the 1992 Indra Sawhney judgment.

The Supreme Court also questioned the data in support of backwardness of Marathas. The government filed a review petition. The Supreme Court rejected it in April 2023. A petition for relief after review is before the Supreme Court.

Hearing in the matter will continue on November 27.