Maratha Reservation Timeline : Four decade old ongoing Maratha reservation demand has received a respite. The new Maratha reservation formula proposes the inclusion of Maratha reservation within the ambit of Other Backward Castes (OBC).Meanwhile, The Supreme Court of India has been hearing the curative petition regarding the separate reservation for the Marathas. Here are the key developments in the Maratha reservation row.
1982: Labour union leader Annasaheb Patil led the first protest for Maratha reservations.
1990: The demand for economic reservations transitioned to caste-based quotas after the 1990 Mandal Commission report.
2004: The Maharashtra government added Maratha-Kunbis and Kunbi-Marathas to the OBC list, excluding those identifying solely as Marathas. Kunbi was categorized under OBC.
July 2008: A committee chaired by retired Judge RM Bapat, appointed by the Maharashtra government, presented a report opposing Maratha reservations.
2014: A committee led by current BJP minister Narayan Rane reported that 32% of the state’s population comprised Marathas, advocating for their economic upliftment through reservations. Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan approved a proposal to reserve 16% of government jobs and educational seats for Marathas and 5% for Muslims.
2014: Despite the immediate passage of an ordinance, the Bombay High Court, in 2014, stayed its implementation, citing faulty data on the community’s backwardness.
2018 : Later a nine-member Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission chaired by Justice MG Gaikwad by Justice MG Gaikwad collected data on the community’s backwardness and submitted its report in 2018.The report led to the enactment of a law providing 16% reservation in education and government jobs for the Maratha community, excluding Muslim reservations.
2019 : However, the Bombay High Court, in 2019, affirmed the community’s backward status but reduced the reservation to 12% in education and 13% in jobs.
The HC has said that 50 Per cent ceiling on reservation(Indra Sawhney) could be breached in exceptional circumstances.
May 5, 2021 : Later in Supreme court, constitutional bench by 3:2 majority held that there was no justification for breaking the 50 per cent ceiling which was not being constitutionally recognized.
The bench also made it clear that after 102nd amendment to the constitution, states have no power to identify the Social Economic Backward Class (SEBC).
23 June, 2021 :SC rejected the review petition filed by Maharashtra government. In a majority view, SC held that only centre alone was empowered to identify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) to include them in the Central List for claiming reservation benefits.
Aug, 2021 : The Parliament passed the constitution 127th amendment bill to restore states’s power to specify SEBC
21 April,2023: Maharashtra government to file curative petition in Supreme Court on Maratha quota.
Oct, 2023: The Maharashtra government had formed a committee headed by Justice (Retired) Sandeep Shinde to decide on the procedure to grant Kunbi (OBC) certificate to Marathas. The committee, which around 1.7 crore records and approved more than 13,000 records for offering Kunbi status, submitted its first report last week. The government has been seeking more time to complete the remaining work.
24 Jan,2024 : SC starts hearing on curative petition filed by Maharasthra government.
27 Jan,2024: Maratha agitation head Jarange Patil withdrew his protest as government has accepted the demand of including term ‘sage-soyare’ in the draft notification issued by the Maharashtra government.