Mumbai: The state government has opposed the petition challenging reservation for other backward classes (OBCs). The state said that the petition is politically motivated and the petitioner is one of the researchers in the Maratha reservation issue.
The state also asked why the petitioner had approached the court 25 years after the reservation was granted to OBCs.
A division bench of Justice Ranjit More and Justice Bharti Dangre was hearing a petition filed by Balasaheb Sarate. The petitioner questioned how 32 per cent reservation for the OBC community could be justified when no study or survey had been conducted by the state government while granting it.
The petition stated that out of the 96 castes included in the OBC category, nearly 40 per cent were not even eligible for reservation. “Inclusion of these castes is unconstitutional,” said the petition.
The petition urged the Bombay high court for direction to the state government to conduct a survey and study about the social and economic backwardness of the OBC community. The petition raised objection why when 32 to 34 per cent of the total population were OBCs, they had been given 32 per cent reservation.
On Monday, state counsel Anil Sakhre argued that the petitioner had worked as an expert during the Maratha reservation issue and on the other hand, he should not have taken a stand against OBC reservation. In 1995, reservation had been given to the OBC community but the petition was being filed in 2019.
The court then asked the state to file an affidavit and kept the matter for further hearing on March 4.
