SBCC recommended Maratha quota on unsound findings: HC told

The Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (SBCC) recommended reservation to the Maratha community in government jobs and education was on the basis of unsound and inaccurate findings, the petitioners opposing the quota told the Bombay High Court Thursday.

The submission was made by advocate Pradeep Sancheti, who was appearing for petitioner Sanjeet Shukla.

Sancheti told a bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre that the SBCC had relied on the survey results of a small sample size- just around 43,000 people belonging to the Maratha community- and hence, its findings did not reflect the condition or social status of the entire community.

The Maratha community constitutes around 30 per cent of the total population of the state.

Advocate Sancheti also argued that the Marathas historically belonged to the warrior class and most of them presently held government jobs, or were employed in the Army.

By saying that they were equivalent to the Kunbis and therefore, qualified as OBCs, the commission was bringing down the community, he argued.

"They are not socially backward. And the fact that the commission's conclusion is based on a survey of such small sample size, its findings cannot be held accurate or sound," he said.

Advocate Sancheti also cited a 2015 judgement of the apex court, which ruled that a politically organised group like the Jats could not be included in the OBC list.

"The apex court held at the time that the purpose of caste and community based reservation was to pull up those who were backward or downtrodden," he said.

"However, in the present case, by granting reservation to a community that is not socially backward, the state is relegating the community to a place among those who really are backward," he said further.

The bench has been hearing a bunch of petitions in favour of and against the state's November 30, 2018 decision to grant 16 per cent quota to the Marathas in the state following an intense agitation by the community.

The arguments are likely to continue Friday.