The Supreme Court has issued a sensational verdict on Maratha reservations. The apex court on Wednesday struck down the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, which increases reservation to the Maratha community in public education and employment.
The court ruled that exceeding the 50 percent reservation is a violation of the right to equality. The Court unanimously held that no exceptional circumstances were justifying the grant of reservation to Marathas over 50% ceiling limit as a Socially and Economically Backward Class.
It is a known fact that the Maharashtra government has decided to recognize the Maratha community as an educationally and socially backward community.
In this order, the law was brought in by setting up admissions in educational institutions and reservations for them in government jobs. The Bombay High Court, which upheld the law. Following this, several petitions have been filed in the Supreme Court challenging the judgment of the Bombay High Court.
A five-judge bench hearing the petitions on Wednesday said, “The law brought by the Maharashtra government in 2018 violates the right to equality. It is not right to violate the 50% limit for making reservations for Marathas. The 1992 ruling that 50 percent reservations should not be exceeded cannot be reconsidered,” the bench said suspending reservations.