Maharashtra state law violates right to equality: Supreme Court strikes down quota for Maratha community in education and jobs

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Wednesday (May 5) struck down reservations for the Maratha community in education and jobs exceeding 50 per cent. The apex court in its judgment said that there was no valid ground to breach 50 per cent reservation while granting Maratha reservation in the state.

The Supreme Court's five-judge Constitution bench also made it clear that people from the Maratha community cannot be declared as educationally and socially backward community to bring them within the reserved category. The five-judge constitution bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan also comprised Justices L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta, and S Ravindra Bhat.

The top court said, "The 2018 Maharashtra state law violates right to equality. We won't re-examine the 1992 verdict which capped reservation at 50%."

A batch of petitions challenging the Bombay High Court verdict, which had upheld the grant of reservation to Marathas in admissions and government jobs in the state, was challenged in the Supreme Court.

Meanwhile, a meeting at the residence of Chief Minister Udhav Thackeray is underway to take a further step in the wake of the apex court judgment striking down reservations for the Maratha community in education and jobs.