Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Friday cancelled the previous Congress-NCP government's decision of giving 16 percent reservation for Marathas in jobs and educational institutions in Maharashtra.
The High Court's order comes on a petition challenging the measure, terming it as a "fraud" on the Constitution.
The bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah also stayed the previous Prithviraj Chavan-led government's order to provide 5 percent reservation to Muslims in public service, but allowed them quota in educational institutions.
Admitting a batch of Public Interest Litigations, Justice Shah said the Supreme Court had already laid down the law for reservation which cannot exceed 50 per cent of the total seats.
The court was of the view that the comparative data provided by the government justified its decision to introduce reservation for Muslims in government educational institutions. It, however, excluded private educational bodies from the purview of reservations for the minority community.
Meanwhile, newly-elected Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that his government supports Maratha reservation and has decided to approach the Supreme Court.
"The state government is fully supportive of Maratha quota. We will appeal in SC on the HC ruling. We will take measures to ensure that the quota remains," Fadnavis told reporters on the sidelines of an event in suburban Vile Parle.
"If the court has pointed out any discrepancy in law, we will remove any lacunae in law during the winter session of the State Legislature in Nagpur," the chief minister said.
Four months ahead of Assembly elections, the Congress-NCP government had announced 16 percent reservation for Marathas and five percent for Muslims in jobs and educational institutions.
