No need to protest, will approach SC again: Maharashtra CM Uddhav Thackeray on Maratha quota row

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Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday (September 13, 2020) said that the state will raise the matter of Maratha reservation before the Supreme Court again, three days after the apex court stayed the implementation of Maratha quota.

Calling the stay top court's ruling to put an interim stay on the implementation of the Maratha quota as unexpected, Thackeray assured that the reservation issue will be raised again. He further urged the public to not hold protests in the state. 

"The Maratha quota bill was unanimously passed by the state legislature and the legal team hired by the previous BJP-led state government was arguing in the apex court," he said.

Thackeray appealed to Maratha organisations to refrain from holding protests and demonstrations during the pandemic.

He claimed that he had spoken to Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis who had assured him his full support.

"The government is firmly with the cause of justice to Maratha community and is working on how to proceed ahead. I have spoken to Leader of Opposition Devendra Fadnavis who is in Bihar now and he has assured the BJP's complete support," he said.

On Wednesday, a three-judge bench of the apex court referred to a Constitution Bench the question whether states have the power to exceed the 50 per cent reservation limit.

Pointing out that any exception from 50 per cent ceiling rule for reservation was permissible only in “extraordinary situations”, the top court had said that it is of the “prima facie opinion that the State of Maharashtra has not shown any extraordinary situation for providing reservations to Marathas in excess of 50 per cent”.