The Maharashtra Legislative Assembly on Monday passed a resolution urging the Centre to bring a Constitutional amendment to remove the 50 per cent ceiling on caste-based reservations set earlier by the Supreme Court as it is coming in the way of granting quota to the SEBC category comprising Marathas.
As per the resolution moved by state PWD Minister Ashok Chavan on the first day of the monsoon session, without relaxing the 50 per cent limit on caste-based reservations, the quota for the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) cannot be granted.
The Supreme Court on on May 5 struck down the reservation in government jobs and educational institutions for the Maratha community brought in by the Maharashtra government in 2018, saying it exceeded the 50 per cent cap imposed earlier. A five-judge Constitution Bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and Ravindra Bhat in its judgment said that that people from the Maratha community cannot be declared as educationally and socially backward community to bring them within the reserved category.
Members of the BJP were not present in the House when Chavan moved the resolution. Members of the Maratha community have been staging protests across Maharashtra demanding that the SEBC reservation be restored