Bombay HC To Decide Whether Backward Class Commission Which Recommended 10% Maratha Reservation Should Be Made Party To Challenge

A full bench of Chief Justice Devendra Kumar Upadhyay, Justice Girish Kulkarni and Justice Firdosh Pooniwalla initially opined that the Commission need not be made a party. However, it said it will decide the application filed by advocate Subhash Jha, who has sought to make the Backward Class Commission a respondent to the petition. The matter is adjourned till July 2.

Jha, who is also opposing the decision to grant 10 per cent reservation to the Maratha community, submitted that some of the petitioners have made a personal attacks on Justice Shukre by calling him an "activist of Maratha community" and alleged malafide on his part. The Advocate further contended that since the report prepared by the Justice Shukre Commission will affect the lives of crores of citizens, the Commission needs to be made a party.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf for the State of Maharashtra weighed in stating that the Commission, an expert body led by the former judge must be made a party to defend the report. He pointed out that submissions were made claiming that the findings of the report are incorrect and thus the Commission would be best suited to explain its report.

Senior Advocate Devdatt Kamat stated that the main petition itself challenges the appointment of Justice Shukre as the chairperson of the Commission and seeks to quash the report.

Supporting the contention, senior Advocate Janak Dwarkadas submitted that the Commission is a necessary party as the petitioners have alleged malafide against Justice Shukre and their main prayer is to quash the report.

"Ultimately, this court will be giving a finding on the report and may also make certain observations on it. This is my submission, that in such a circumstances, the Commission needs to be made a party," the senior advocate argued.

Chief Justice Upadhyay responded that the Report had only proposed a 10 per cent reservation for Marathas in education and jobs and the main challenge was to the law- Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes Act, 2024.

The Act was passed on February 20 this year and notified by the state government on February 26, based on a report from the Justice (retired) Sunil B. Shukre-led Maharashtra State Backward Class Commission. The report cited "exceptional circumstances and extraordinary situations" as justification for granting reservation to the Maratha community, exceeding the 50 percent total reservation limit in the state.

“The report is just a material. The Legislature is under challenge. The Commission doesn't have any adjudicatory or statutory powers and is also not a quasi-judicial body. Law is settled on who is a necessary party and everyone is aware of it," the CJ orally remarked.