The Maharashtra government’s social justice department on Tuesday issued a government resolution (GR) and cancelled its earlier resolution of granting 5% reservation to the Muslim community for educational institutions and government and semi-government jobs, a provision that had been legally invalidated over a decade ago.
The Reservation, introduced in July 2014 through an ordinance, classified Muslims under the Special Backwards Class-A (SBC-A) category and applied to government jobs and educational institutions. However, the ordinance was challenged in the Mumbai High Court, which stayed it on November 14, 2014.
Since the ordinance was not enacted into law by the Maharashtra legislature by the December 23, 2014, deadline, it lapsed automatically. The Supreme Court later cancelled the reservation while deciding a Special Leave Petition (SLP) against the Bombay High Court order, effectively invalidating the provision.
Despite the lapse of the ordinance and the Supreme Court’s order, the Maharashtra government had not formally cancelled the original GR through any official order until now.
With the GR now formally cancelled, the government has declared all related decisions and communications void. This means no further admissions will be granted under the 5 per cent reservation in colleges and educational institutions, and no new caste or validity certificates will be issued under this category.
However, the GR issued on Tuesday is largely a formality, as the said reservation has not been in existence for well over a decade due to two key reasons- the supreme court cancellation of the order through SLP order and the automatic lapse of the ordinance after it was never brought before the Maharashtra legislatures as a bill to make it a law following the court order.
This GR is to cancel a reservation that has not been in effect for well over a decade.
Congress criticises the move
The Opposition in the state has criticised the move.
In a post on X, Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad said, “We strongly condemn this decision. Instead of taking positive steps regarding the 5% reservation announced in 2014 for education and employment, the government has simply scrapped the old processes. Citing the High Court’s interim stay and the ordinance becoming outdated as reasons, the government has dealt a severe blow to the rights of the Muslim community.”
“On one hand, they talk of ‘Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’ (Support for All, Development for All), and on the other, they close the avenues for obtaining necessary documents for reservation—isn’t this hypocrisy? Even though the Mumbai High Court has approved 5% reservation for the Muslim community in education, its implementation has not taken place anywhere in Maharashtra to date. The government’s failure to implement the reservation approved by the court is detrimental to democracy,” she added.
She further said that instead of bringing the backward sections of society into the mainstream, this government has pushed them back into darkness.
AIMIM takes jibe at state government
Imtiaz Jaleel, the Maharashtra chief of AIMIM took a jibe at the state government and said that this was Ramadan gift for Muslims.
“Maharashtra govt announces Ramadan gift for Muslims by scrapping 5% reservation in education. This was given after HC had noted that education dropout rate was highest among Muslims. But still we will tell our boys and girls not to leave education,” he said.
