A public interest
litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the
Maharashtra government's move to grant Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha
community members in the state.
The PIL, filed on
Tuesday by one Mangesh Sasane, who claims to be the chairman of the 'OBC
Welfare Foundation', said the state government by granting Kunbi certificates
to the Maratha community was "eating into" the reservation of the
Other Backward Classes (OBCs).
The petition is
likely to come up for hearing on February 6, as per the HC's website.
The plea
challenges five government resolutions issued from 2004 permitting the Marathas
to seek Kunbi caste certificates.
"Earlier,
the process of granting Kunbi certificates to Marathas was difficult but with
every agitation, the process was made easier. This was just to facilitate the
Marathas (for reservation)," the petitioner's advocate Ashish Mishra
claimed.
The petition said
that in 2021, the Supreme Court declared the Maharashtra government's decision
granting reservation to Maraths as unconstitutional.
"Now the
government, by permitting the Marathas to get Kunbi certificate and enjoy
reservation benefits, is giving them backdoor entry," Mishra claimed.
On January 20,
Maratha reservation activist Manoj Jarange-Patil began a march to Mumbai from
Antarwali Sarathi in Jalna, demanding issuance of Kunbi certificates to all
Marathas, which would entitle them to benefits under the quota earmarked for
the OBCs.
The state
government recently issued a draft notification stating that blood relatives of
a Maratha person, who has records to show he belongs to the Kunbi community,
would also be recognised as Kunbi.
An agrarian
community, Kunbi falls in the OBC category, and Jarange, spearheading the
agitation for reservation for the Marathas since last August, has been
demanding Kunbi certificates for all Marathas to enable them to avail quota
benefits in government jobs and education.
Soon after the
government issued the notification, the activist called off his march to
Mumbai.
The government
has invited suggestions and objections to the notification till February 16.