Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs Chinmaya IAS Academy – Current Affairs
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SC to hear petition challenging quota
The Supreme Court on Friday will hear a group of social workers, academics and representatives of the Muslim community who have appealed against a Bombay High Court decision upholding a “one-person or one-community” Maharashtra legislation providing reservation to the Maratha community in education and public employment. The petitioners, led by Mohammad Sayeed Noori Shafi Ahmed, say the Maharashtra legislation is against the very tenets of equality enshrined as a fundamental right in the Constitution. A Bench led by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will consider the case of the group, represented by senior advocate S.B. Talekar and advocates Vipin Nair and Madhavi Ayyappan, who said the High Court decision was seriously erroneous and based on incomplete data. The Bench is also scheduled to examine a separate petition filed by NGO Youth for Equality through its representative Sanjeet Shukla, which said the 12% and 13% quota to Maratha community had breached the 50% cap on reservation fixed by the Indira Sawhney judgment of the apex court. The High Court judgment has worked to favour only the Maratha community for quota benefits in education and public sector jobs. Petitioners narrated how Maharashtra had issued an ordinance for providing 5% reservation to 52 Muslim communities in 2014. However, the ordinance had lapsed and Maharashtra did not take any steps to legislate to provide reservation to the communities.
