In a significant legal development, the Bombay High Court is scrutinizing a petition that challenges the Maharashtra government's 1994 decision to grant a 2% reservation in public employment to the Special Backward Classes (SBC). The petition, filed by the organization Youth for Equality, contends that this reservation breaches the Supreme Court's mandated 50% cap on quotas in government jobs, as established in the landmark Indra Sawhney case.
The SBC category was created in December 1994, encompassing communities such as Gowari, Mana, Halba Koshti, Machhimar Koli, Soan Koli, and Munnarwar. The petitioners argue that the government's decision was politically motivated and lacked empirical data to substantiate the backwardness of these communities. They assert that the inclusion of SBCs has led to the total reservation in Maharashtra exceeding the 50% limit, reaching 52%.
The petitioners further highlight that the SBCs are treated on par with the general category in educational institutions, receiving reservation benefits only if seats from the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category remain vacant. They emphasize that even in such scenarios, the overall reservation should not surpass the 50% threshold. Additionally, the plea points out that the state government has not conducted any studies or collected data to assess the current socio-economic status of the SBCs, thereby failing to justify the continued reservation.
A notable aspect of this case is the considerable delay in challenging the reservation policy. The SBC reservation has been in effect since 1994, and the petition was filed in 2021, marking a 27-year gap. The court is expected to examine the reasons for this delay and its implications on the case's admissibility.
This legal challenge is part of a broader discourse on reservation policies in Maharashtra. The state has witnessed multiple legal battles concerning reservations, including those related to the Maratha community. In recent years, the Bombay High Court has addressed several petitions challenging various aspects of reservation policies, reflecting the ongoing debates about affirmative action and its limits within the framework of the Indian Constitution.
The outcome of this case could have significant implications for reservation policies in Maharashtra and potentially influence the broader national conversation on affirmative action. The court's decision will likely address not only the legality of the SBC reservation but also the broader issues of policy formulation, the necessity of empirical data to justify reservations, and the permissible limits of affirmative action within the constitutional framework.
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