While the BJP claims the MVA government deliberately lost the case in court, the chief minister tells Centre to enact a law to bring back the reservation like it did with Article 370
Agitators shout slogans against the Supreme Court’s order in Goregaon on Wednesday
Even as the Supreme Court’s scrapping of the Maratha quota led to the uprising of the state’s largest community on Wednesday, the Opposition and the ruling parties kicked off a political slugfest over the defeat in the legal battleground. While Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray demanded that the Centre enact a law to reinstate the community’s reservation in government jobs and education, opposition leader Devendra Fadnavis said the MVA government deliberately lost the case in the court because it did not want the BJP to get credit for giving the quota that was legislated by the previous government.
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A man shaves his head in protest against the verdict in Goregaon on Wednesday
The morning verdict triggered a massive reaction from the members of the Maratha community who defied the pandemic restrictions to agitate on the streets. The defiance in some places was in contrast to the silent mega morchas taken out in the state demanding the quota. Police acted promptly to avoid a law and order situation, while the community leaders and Thackeray appealed for peace.
The BJP-led government had passed the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) Act, giving Marathas 16 per cent quota in jobs and education, in November 2018. The Bombay High Court had upheld the validity of the law but reduced the quota for jobs to 13 per cent and for education to 12 per cent.
The law was challenged in the SC, which on Wednesday said there was no valid ground to breach the 50 per cent cap on reservation imposed by it some 30 years ago. But it ruled that all admissions made to postgraduate medical courses and jobs given under the new law will not be disturbed by its verdict.
Unfortunate decision: CM
Thackeray said the verdict was unfortunate for the community, adding that the state government would continue to fight for it in the court. “The court said the state does not have the right to give reservations. The court also scrapped the backward commission report. It is a sort of advice for Maharashtra that only the Centre and the President can decide on the quotas. If so, then, we request the prime minister and the president with folded hands to give Marathas a reservation with immediate effect,” he said in a statement. “Earlier, the Centre had decided in Shah Bano case, Atrocities Act and Article 370. It also amended the Constitution. We expect the same kind of justice for Marathas,” he added.
Thackeray wondered why the PM hadn’t given BJP’s Rajya Sabha member and Maratha leader Chhatrapati Sambhaji Raje time to discuss the reservation issue. He said the verdict cannot be welcomed, and cautioned that the incident should not be used to disturb peace in the time of the pandemic.
‘MVA messed up’
Fadnavis, under whose stewardship the BJP-Sena government granted Marathas quota, alleged that the MVA killed the reservation in the legal battle only for denying the BJP a credit. “The SC’s verdict is painful. We gave Marathas what they didn’t get in 50 years. Our government argued the case very strongly in the Bombay High Court and Supreme Court. Since the Shiv Sena was with us then, it has no right to speak against us now. Even the then Opposition supported the law and passed the legislation without debating it. It is unfair to blame the previous government for the MVA’s failure,” he said.
The former CM said the MVA was wrong in understanding the verdict that in fact does not stop the government from making a law. “The state can again make a law for Maratha quota and prove to the court the necessity of crossing the 50 per cent cap on reservation. The chief minister should seek the advocate general’s advice,” he said.
Fadnavis also claimed the MVA had no strategy and lacked coordination. “The state’s lawyers said they did not have information or instructions. Even the Maharashtra Backward Class Commission report’s annexures weren’t translated to English for the Supreme Court’s consideration. The annexure could have proved that the commission had taken into consideration the views of the people who opposed reservation for Marathas, because the state was asked if the commission’s report was unilateral.”
In his evening address, Thackeray said he will officially write to the PM and the president asking to give Marathas a reservation in government jobs and education. He dismissed the Opposition’s allegations, saying that the lawyers who represented the state during Fadnavis’s time also argued on behalf of the government till the end.
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