Justice (retd) Anand Nirgude, the chairperson of the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC), submitted his resignation to the state government on December 4, with the acceptance officially confirmed on December 9. The resignation, however, was not communicated to the state legislature during the ongoing Winter Session, raising eyebrows about transparency in the state's governance.
In his resignation letter, Nirgude simply said: “I hereby tender my resignation as chairperson of the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes. I express my gratitude for giving me this opportunity to work in this position.”
This move follows the earlier resignations of two commission members, Balaji Killarikar and Laxman Hake, who stepped down earlier this month. The resignations were attributed to the alleged "growing interference" of the state government in the commission's affairs, particularly concerning the examination of the backwardness of the Maratha community in the context of the recent agitation for their reservation.
While Nirgude wrote to Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on December 4 tendering his resignation, the Maharashtra government on December 9 conveyed to the member secretary of the Commission that the resignation has been accepted.
The Commission, a quasi-judicial authority, was asked by the Eknath Shinde-led government to ascertain existence of exceptional circumstances and or extraordinary situations in the context of Maratha community justifying exceeding of the limit of 50% reservation as laid down in the judgements of the Supreme Court.
Earlier, other members of the commission had resigned. Now that chairperson Nirgude has resigned, the opposition has raised the issue. On the one hand, the government has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court for Maratha reservation. It will have to prove the backwardness of the Maratha community. But the resignation of members from the chairman of the Backward Classes Commission has raised the question of what is going on behind it.
The Leader of the Opposition in the Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, expressed surprise over the government's acceptance of the resignation of State Backward Classes Commission Chairman Justice Anand Nirgude on December 4. Wadettiwar noted a series of resignations from members of the State Backward Classes Commission and criticized the government for withholding information about the Speaker's resignation. He questioned why the government did not disclose this information during the Winter Session of the Assembly and demanded an explanation regarding the consecutive resignations of commission members, including the chairman.