The Bombay High Court, in the case of Akshay Chaudhari v. State of Maharashtra & Ors., has ruled that Maratha candidates who initially applied under the Socially and Economic Backward Class (SEBC) for government jobs in 2019 can now be considered under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category. This decision overturns the Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal’s (MAT) February 2023 order that opposed the government’s stance.
A division bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Manjusha Deshpande set aside the MAT order, stating that it deviated from established legal principles and negatively impacted a substantial number of candidates. The judgment stems from a batch of petitions filed by over a hundred Maratha candidates and the State government, challenging the MAT order related to posts in Tax, Forest, and Engineering services Departments.
The background of the case involves the Supreme Court’s May 2021 decision to strike down provisions of the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018, which granted reservation to the Maratha community, exceeding the 50 percent quota ceiling set in the 1992 Indra Sawhney (Mandal) judgment.
After the Supreme Court’s decision, the Maharashtra government extended EWS quota eligibility to SEBC candidates. Government resolutions allowing SEBC candidates to apply for public posts under the EWS category were contested before the MAT by candidates who had originally applied under the EWS category.
The MAT upheld the challenge, disqualifying candidates who applied under the SEBC (Maratha) category. The petitioners argued that the MAT wrongly held that government resolutions couldn’t be retrospectively applied. The High Court agreed, stating that the MAT exceeded the scope of a service dispute and created an inequitable situation by disqualifying Maratha candidates from EWS despite higher marks.
The High Court emphasized that the MAT’s order ignored the integration of SEBC reserved seats into the general category after the SEBC Act was declared unconstitutional. It noted that SEBC candidates who initially applied under the SEBC category were allowed to apply under EWS with a merit-based approach.
Advocate General Birendra Saraf, Senior Advocates VA Thorat and Mihir Desai, along with government pleaders PP Kakade and MM Pabale, represented the State of Maharashtra. Senior Advocate Narendra Bandiwadekar and advocates Sayyed Yassen, Sahiba Ansari, Aisha Shaikh, and others represented the aggrieved candidates.
The Bombay High Court’s ruling reinstates the eligibility of Maratha candidates who applied under SEBC in 2019 to be considered under the EWS category, emphasizing the importance of adhering to established legal principles and avoiding negative impacts on candidates.
