Maratha Quota: Bombay High Court Refuses Day-To-Day Hearing
Narsi Benwal
10 Nov 2026 10:22 AM IST
The Bombay High Court on November 5, refused to conduct 'day-to-day' hearings in the bunch of petitions challenging the constitutional validity of the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2024 which provides for 10% quota to the Maratha Community in education and public service in the State.
A full bench headed by Justice Makarand Karnik opined that the matter was being heard at regular intervals, and thus did not find any need to conduct day-to-day hearings in the case, as urged by some of the parties.
"We have given anxious consideration to the request made by the Applicants for day to day hearing of the matters. Every possible endeavour is being made to give priority hearing to the PIL and other connected matters. Hearing is on going. A fixed session for hearing of the matters is being assigned at regular intervals due regard being had to the work load in respect of the extant regular assignment. Since the matters are being heard on a regular basis, we are not inclined to accede to the request of the Applicants for a day to day hearing," the bench also comprising of Justice Nijamoodin Jamadar and Justice Sandeep Marne, said.
Notably, this bench was constituted recently in September after it was substantially heard by two different three-judge benches.
These clutch of petitions, both for and against the Maratha Reservation, were earlier being heard by a full bench of (then) Chief Justice Devendra Upadhyay, Justice Girish Kulkarni & Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla. However, with the transfer of CJ Upadhyay to the Delhi High Court, the said full bench could no more hear the said petitions.
Therefore, a new full bench was then constituted under Justice Ravindra Ghuge, which had heard the matter substantially from May 2025 till August this year. However, Justice Ghuge too got elevated as the Chief Justice of the Calcutta High Court and the matter could not then proceed.
What Is The Maratha Reservation Quota All About?
The Impugned Act was passed by the legislature on February 20, 2024, and notified on February 26, 2024, by the state government based on a report from Justice (retd.) Sunil Shukre-led Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission (MSBCC). The report cited "exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations" as justification for granting reservation to the Maratha community, exceeding the 50% total reservation limit.
While the Bombay High Court upheld the 2018 law in June 2019, it deemed the 16% quota unjustifiable and reduced it to 12% in education and 13% in government jobs. Patil and others challenged this verdict in the Supreme Court.
The Maharashtra government filed a review petition, which was rejected in April 2023. Subsequently, a curative petition was filed, which is currently pending before the apex court.
