Mumbai: The Bombay High Court on Wednesday directed the Maharashtra government to submit its reply to a bunch of petitions challenging a March 23, 1994 government resolution (GR) increasing reservation for the Other Backward Classes (OBCs). A division bench of Chief Justice D K Upadhyaya and Justice Arif Doctor gave the government time till December 10 to file its affidavit and posted the next hearing to January 3, 2024.
The petitions claimed that the reservation for OBCs was increased in 1994 without following due procedure. Incidentally, the issue of OBC quota has come to the fore in the recent months with some Maratha quota activists seeking reservation for the Marathas in the OBC category and OBC leaders opposing the demand.
According to one of the petitioners, Balasaheb Sarate, the OBC reservation in the state exceeds 42 percent of the total reservation. Since 1994, more than 150 communities have been included in the OBC category without adhering to due procedure and the Supreme Court's directives, the petitioners contended.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf, who appeared for the government, while seeking time to file an affidavit said the petitions were challenging a GR issued way back in 1994. The petitions also demanded a fresh survey of all the communities required to be included in the OBC quota.
