The Maharashtra Government on Saturday announced that it would soon move the Supreme Court to seek the lifting of a stay imposed by the Bombay High Court on the operation and implementation of an ordinance promulgated by the previous Congress-led DF dispensation, extending 16 per cent reservations to Maratha community.
“The State Government will do everything possible to seek restoration of reservations extended to Marathas in Government jobs and education. We will soon move the Supreme Court to seek lifting of the stay imposed by the High Court on the reservations to Marathas,” CM Devendra Fadnavis said.
Fadnavis was talking to the media persons after an all-party meeting — convened by him at the State secretariat —deliberated on the stay imposed by a division Bench of High Court, on the operation and implementation of ordinance promulgated by the previous Congress-led DF Government on July 9, 2014 extending 16 per cent reservations to Marathas in the Government jobs and admissions in the Government and aided educational institutions in the State and five per cent reservations to Muslims in Government jobs.
Fadnavis said that his Government is appointing a legal experts committee to study the High Court’s ruling and collate more data to buttress the State Government’s stand on the 16 per cent reservations extended to Marathas.
“In view of the fact that the High Court has found lacunae in the recommendations made by the Narayan Rane committee, the experts’ committee will gather more data to justify the reservations to Marathas and suggest a way out of the situation arising out of the high court’s interim ruling,” the Chief Minister said.
In another move, the State Government appointed an all-party committee to examine the issues arising out of the litigation to the Maratha reservations. “Given that the High Court has found discrepancies in the ordinance, we will bring in necessary changes in the law during the Winter Session of the State legislature,” Fadnavis said.
Apart from Fadnavis, among those who were present at the all-party meeting included: Eknath Khadse, Sudhir Mungantiwar, Vinod Tawde, Pakash Menta, Pankaja Munde-Palve, Chandrakant Patil, all Ministers in the BJP Government, Ramdas Athavale (RPI-A), Diwakar Raote (Shiv Sena), Naseem Khan (Congress), Vinayak Methe (Shiv Sangram), Chief Secretary Swadheen Kshatriya and Advocate General Darius Khambatta.
There are two components in Friday’s Bombay High Court. While the high court has completely stayed 16 per cent reservations to Marathas in the Government jobs and admissions in the Government and aided educational institutions in the State, the HC bench has restricted its stay on five per cent reservations to Muslims only with respect to Government jobs. The high court has, however, not stayed five per cent reservations made by the State Government with respect to seats in state-owned and aided educational institutions in the state.
In its interim ruling given on Friday, the HC bench, headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah, had, however, 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”.
The court also ruled that admissions already given to Maratha students on the basis of such reservations this year would not be disturbed and students would be allowed to continue and complete their courses.Interestingly enough, the new BJP government is not contesting the stay on the five per reservations extended to Muslims in government jobs.
On its part, the NCP – which has extended unsolicited outside support to the new BJP government – has not taken kindly to the stand taken by the Devendra Fadnavis’ dispensation to restrict its petition in the Supreme Court only to the stay imposed on the 16 per cent reservations to Marathas.
“We would like the BJP government to clarify if it is contesting the stay on reservations extended to both Marathas and Muslims or restricting its petition in the Supreme Court to only Maratha reservations, while not bothering about the reservations to Muslims. As far as the NCP is concerned, we would like the state government to contest the stay on the reservations extended to both the communities,” NCP spokesperson Nawab Mallik said.