India's Supreme Court strikes down Maratha quota, no review on 50% cap on reservation

The Supreme Court of India has struck down the Maratha quota in excess of the 50% of ceiling limit as unconstitutional. 

The court unanimously held that there were no exceptional circumstances justifying the grant of reservation to Marathas in excess of 50% ceiling limit as a Socially and Economically Backward Class.

A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Ashok Bhushan allowed no breach of 50 per cent ceiling to give more reservation, as it refused to consider reviewing the Indra Sawhney verdict of 1992.

"Exceeding ceiling limit of 50 per cent laid down by Indra Sawhney is violative of Articles 14 and 15," said the top court. The top court said the people from the Maratha community cannot be declared as educationally and socially backwards.

The unanimous judgment was delivered by a bench also comprising Justices L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat.

The top court made it clear that there were no extraordinary circumstances to grant reservation to the Maratha community over and above the 50 per cent ceiling.

The top court struck down the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018 which extends reservation to the Maratha community in public education and employment.

The top court emphasized that exceeding the 50 per cent limit in without exceptional circumstances violates Article 14, and it held that the 2018 act as amended in 2019 exceeds the limit without any exceptional circumstances.

The top court held that SEBC Act, which extends reservation to the Maratha community in public education and employment is unconstitutional.

(With inputs from agencies)