Pleas against quota lack research: State

Mumbai: The state government has filed an affidavit in the Bombay high court in support of Maratha reservation. The affidavit stated that there is no truth in allegations of the petitioners who are opposing the Maratha reservation and they lack statistics, research and reports to oppose the reservation.

The state also clarified that if the court directs it, then it would submit the backward class commission’s report. The state informed the court that it has studied the Supreme Court and high court judgments on reservation and it is clear that the ceiling of 50 per cent reservation could not be made applicable in all the states.

The government filed its affidavit in the high court on Wednesday in response to a bunch of petitions challenging the reservation granted to the community.

Shivaji Daund, secretary general administration department of the state government, filed the affidavit. “The impugned Act of 2018 is passed within parameters and four corners of the Constitution of India and that there is no violation of any provision of the Constitution. The state government has pas-sed the impugned Act based on data, surveys, facts and figures, statistics, records, analysis, inv-estigations, research and so on,” the affidavit said.

The government sought for the petitions to be dismissed at the outset itself. “The said Act providing for reservation only seeks to fulfill the constitutional duty of ensuring adequate representation to a socially and educationally backward class of citizens in educational institutions and public services,” the affidavit said.

It added that the Act was enacted following recommendations submitted by the Maharashtra State Commission for Backward Classes. It further claimed that the government was the custodian and regulator of social justice and enacted the Act after recognising the plight of the community.

A division bench headed by Justice Ranjit More will take up the petitions for hearing on January 23.