The Bombay High Court on Friday ordered a stay on the Maharashtra Government's decision to give 16 percent reservation to Marathas in public service and educational institutions.
The High court also stayed the state government's decision to provide five percent reservation to Muslims in public service, but has allowed them quota in education sector.
Commenting on the High Court's judgement, lawyer Sanjeev Shukla said that giving reservation on religious grounds is unconstitutional.
"The reservation on the Maratha has been stayed and is an interim order. There will not be any reservation for Marathas henceforth. Reservation on the basis of religion is unconstitutional," he told ANI.
"We have filed a petition against Muslims and Maratha reservation granted by the Maharashtra Government. We opposed the reservation on the basis of caste and religion and also against the Marathas. The High Court has allowed Muslims reservation by five percent only on education basis and not on the public and private sectors," he added.
The lawyer further said that the Supreme Court had properly given guidelines that the reservation should not exceed more than 50 percent, adding that the reservation is already of 52 percent in Maharashtra.
"If we at all calculate the reservation given to the Marathas i.e. 16 percent and five percent to the Muslims, then the total reservation is going up to 73 percent," Shukla said.
Ketan Tirodkar, the petitioner in this case, said the High Court has stayed the state government's decision to provide five percent reservation to Muslims in public service, but allowed them reservation in educational institutions.
Talking of the PIL filed by him, he said, "There were two types of constitutional commissions- one was the National Backward Commission that refused the Maratha reservation and also made a 700 page report on how forward the class is. The second one was Bapat Commission that also declared it as a forward community on 2008."
He also stressed on the fact that Muslims should be given reservation, especially in the education sector.
The Bombay High Court has stayed the decision of former Maharashtra chief minister Prithviraj Chavan-led government's decision to give 16 percent reservation to Marathas in government jobs and educational institutions.
The court observed that since the Maratha community is not socially backward and it does not qualify for reservation.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis while reacting to the judgement said that they would challenge the decision in the Supreme Court and make required changes in law at the Winter Session in Nagpur in December.
The next hearing on this case will take place on January 5, 2015.
