Maha to approach SC against HC order on minority college quota

The Maharashtra government will approach the Supreme Court against a Bombay High Court order to quash quota for students belonging to backward communities in minority degree colleges, state ministers Vinod Tawde and Rajkumar Badole have said.

According to a circular the Mumbai University had issued over a decade-and-half ago, minority colleges were required to reserve seats for students belonging to OBC and SC and ST communities apart from the 50 per cent reserved for students from minority communities.

The Bombay High Court had scrapped this circular in November last year.

Several students' bodies, including the Maharashtra Navnirman Vidyarthi Sena, National Students' Union of India and others, had raised the issue before Tawde and Badole during a meeting held at the state secretariat yesterday.

Following the meeting, the two ministers announced that a special leave petition will be moved before the apex court, an official statement said.

"The government is positive towards ensuring quota for students from backward communities. The government will immediately file a petition challenging the High Court's decision in the interest of these students," the statement quoted Social Justice Minister Badole as saying.

On his part, Education Minister Tawde assured that the government will ensure students would not suffer academically, the statement said.

"We will deploy the best lawyer in the Supreme Court," Tawde said, according to the statement.

MLAs Vijay Girkar (BJP) and Gautam Chabukswar (Shiv Sena) and senior officials were also present during the meeting.