The Supreme Court , while hearing petitions challenging the validity of the Maratha quota on Friday, sought to know for how long the system...
The Supreme Court, while hearing petitions challenging the validity of the Maratha quota on Friday, sought to know for how long the system of reservations in the education and jobs sector will continue, Bar and Bench reported.
The petitioners had argued that the provision for 12% reservation for Marathas in jobs and 13% in admissions would breach the ceiling of 50% quota limit imposed by the Supreme Court in a landmark verdict in 1992.
The court asked the question after senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for the Maharashtra government, urged it to re-examine the 50% ceiling on the reservation for economically and socially backward classes.
Rohatgi argued that the ceiling on reservation needed a relook since there had been changes in circumstances over the years. The court asked him if it can be said that no members of backward castes had advanced over the years.
“Yes, we have moved forward,” Rohatgi replied, according to Bar and Bench. “But it is not that backward classes have gone down from 50 to 20%. We still have starvation deaths in this country.”
The five-judge Constitution Bench, headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan, expressed concern about the inequality that will emerge if the ceiling is removed. “If there is no 50% or no limit, as you are suggesting, what is...
