Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], February 18 (HBTV): The Maharashtra government’s social justice department on Tuesday issued a government resolution (GR) cancelling its earlier resolution granting 5 percent reservation to the Muslim community in educational institutions and government and semi-government jobs, a provision that had already been legally invalidated over a decade ago.
The reservation was introduced in July 2014 through an ordinance that classified Muslims under the Special Backwards Class-A (SBC-A) category and extended benefits in government jobs and educational institutions. The ordinance was challenged in the Mumbai High Court, which stayed it on November 14, 2014.
As the ordinance was not enacted into law by the Maharashtra legislature before 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Despite the lapse of the ordinance and the Supreme Court’s order, the state government had not formally withdrawn the original GR through an official order until now.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.
Officials indicated that the latest GR is largely procedural, as the reservation had not been in effect for over a decade due to the Supreme Court’s cancellation of the order and the automatic lapse of the ordinance after it was not introduced as a bill in the legislature.
(ANI)