With Manoj Jarange-Patil determined to bring the Maratha reservation battle to Mumbai on January 26, the Maharashtra government has pinned its hopes on the Supreme Court examining a curative petition challenging the court’s decision to strike down a 2018 law that granted quota to the community.

A curative petition is the last recourse open to a petitioner after the Supreme Court dismisses a review petition. The curative petition is meant to ensure there is no miscarriage of justice or abuse of process. Such a petition is usually decided by judges in a chamber unless a specific request for an open-court hearing is allowed. After a five-day march from his village in Jalna district, Jarange-Patil and thousands of followers reached Pune on Wednesday.

Marathas, who have pursued agriculture-related activities, have always been a politically dominant community. Since Maharashtra’s formation in 1960, 12 of its 20 Chief Ministers, including incumbent Eknath Shinde, have been Marathas. But the division of land holdings and agrarian distress have, over the years, led to a decline in the prosperity of middle and lower-middle-class Marathas.

In 2018, the then Devendra Fadnavis government enacted the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, that granted Marathas 16% reservation in government jobs and education.

In June 2019, a Bombay High Court Division Bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre upheld the SEBC Act but ruled that the 16% quota was not “justifiable”. It reduced the quota to 12% in education and 13% in government jobs, as recommended by the Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC). The High Court also said that total reservations should not exceed 50%, except in “exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations”.

The High Court verdict was challenged in the Supreme Court. A five-judge Constitution Bench of the SC led by Justice Ashok Bhushan on May 5, 2021, struck down the SEBC Act, 2018. The Bench said “no extraordinary circumstances were made out in granting” the “separate reservation… by exceeding the 50% ceiling limit of reservation … ” set by the 1992 Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment. Secondly, it raised questions about the empirical data submitted to prove Marathas’ social backwardness.

The Maharashtra government, then run by the Maha Vikas Aghadi, filed a review petition in the apex court. That was rejected in April 2023, following which a curative plea was filed.

The state government led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde believes guidance from the Supreme Court will be of immense help in providing a solution that is long-lasting and withstands legal and constitutional tests.

A senior minister who belongs to the BJP and is part of a sub-committee on the reservation issue said, “When the Supreme Court admitted the curative petition, it was a huge sigh of relief. Now, we have reasons to believe and hope the apex court will guide us on the vexed issue. Whatever lacuna exists in the Maratha reservation will be brought to our notice. It will give us a legitimate right to work on those and rectify our wrongs.”

Accordingly, the state government has initiated the process of furnishing empirical data to substantiate the backwardness of Marathas, beginning a caste survey on January 23. “We have deployed 1.5 lakh persons to conduct door-to-door surveys to ascertain ‘Kunbi’ caste,” Shinde has said. The Kunbi community is associated with agriculture-related occupations and is grouped under the OBC category. Giving Marathas Kunbi caste certificates will mean that Marathas will be counted as OBCs and get reservation benefits OBCs are eligible for.

A member of the sub-committee said, “The curative petition outcome is significant as it will give us a clear idea of how to proceed with reservation. If empirical data and backwardness are established and legally sustainable, it will be tantamount to giving Marathas reservation under the SEBC Act.”

OBC groups are opposed to Marathas getting quota benefits from the reservation pie allotted to them but many within the sub-committee believe the backward class groups will not be against granting separate reservation to Marathas through the SEBC Act.

The OBC Mahasangh has warned the state government of serious consequences if it agrees to Marathas reservation under the OBC category. “We will take our battle to every village and streets if the government includes Maratha reservation within the OBC category,” OBC Jan Morcha president Prakash Shendge has said.

But Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh general secretary Sambhaji Dahatonde Patil has said, “The OBC quota should be raised beyond 27% to 42%. This additional 15% quota can be used to accommodate Marathas within OBC.”

Maratha Kranti Morcha leader and petitioner Vinod Patil, commenting on curative petition, has said, “It is likely the apex court points to shortcomings in the reservation Act. Or it can reject the petition.” In the first scenario, the government will have to rectify the shortcomings to make the Act tenable. In the second, the government will have to go by the demand of Jarange-Patil, Patil observed.

The state government says it is not worried about the quota ceiling, pointing out that even now the total reservation in existence is 52%. With a 10% quota for the Economically Weaker Section (EWS), it goes up to 62%. The ruling coalition has also pointed out there are nine other states that have already surpassed the 50% ceiling, reasoning that there is a provision in the Constitution that allows state governments to exceed the quota limit under “extraordinary circumstances”.

The government has emphasised it will not dilute the OBC quota and that the Maratha reservation will be separate and above the existing OBC quota. “Our government is committed to Maratha reservation. Under CM Shinde, we want reservation that will be lasting and withstand legal and constitutional validity. It is our resolve to ensure the OBC quota remains uncompromising. We will ensure the OBC quota remains intact,” Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis has said.