Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Tuesday that his Government had no plans to promulgate an ordinance on reservations for Marathas that would not stand the scrutiny of courts, but would comply with all legal formalities to make the proposed law on Maratha quota fool-proof and permanent in nature.
Speaking at a function organised to release a book on Chhatrapati Rajaram Maharaj, Fadnavis indicated that his Government would not repeat the mistake of the previous DF Government which had —ahead of the 2014 State Assembly polls — promulgated an ordinance extending 16 per cent reservations to Marathas and five per cent to reservations to Muslims, a decision that was stayed by the Bombay High Court subsequently.
“Even today, we can promulgate an ordinance granting reservations to Marathas. But the ordinance thus promulgated will not stand the scrutiny of the courts... We will comply with all legal formalities required to make the reservations for Marathas so that our decision stands the scrutiny of courts. If anyone can extend reservations to Marathas, it is our Government that can make it happen,” Fadnavis said.
Dismissing the demand being made in certain quarters for the state government to promulgate an ordinance, the chief minister said: “Some people are saying that the State Government should promulgate an ordinance on reservations. But, I will have to tell these people that the court will throw out such an ordinance in one day”.
It may be recalled that on November 14, 2014, the Bombay High Court had stayed an ordinance promulgated by the previous Congress-led DF Government ahead of the October 2014 State Assembly polls extending 16 per cent reservations to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims, saying that they were not in conformity with the law laid down by the Supreme Court in three cases.
While it had stayed 16 per cent reservations granted to Marathas through an ordinance dated July 9, 2014 and Government Resolution dated July 15, 2014, the High Court also stayed the State Government’s decision to provide five per cent reservation to Muslims in Government jobs.
However, a HC bench, headed by the then Chief Justice Mohit Shah, allowed reservations to Muslims in educational institutions, on the ground at that their educational achievements were “abysmally low” and that there was a need to draw them into the “mainstream of secular education”.
On its part, the BJP-led saffron alliance Government which came to power after the October 2014 Assembly polls subsequently moved the Apex court challenging the stay granted by the high court on an ordinance promulgated by the previous Congress-led DF Government. However, the Supreme Court rejected the State Government’s petition.The matter came back to the high court after advocate Vikas Patil filed an intervention petition in the Supreme Court on the issue. The SC directed the high court to hear the bunch of petitions pending before it.
The Bombay High Court is currently hearing a bunch of petitions filed by Tirodkar and others, challenging reservations extended to Maratha and Muslim communities
Currently Maharashtra has 52 per cent reservations in jobs and educational institutions.
However, if the state Government is permitted to grant 16 per cent reservations to Marathas and five per cent to Muslims, then the current reservations in the State will go up to 73 per cent.