PIL opposes giving reservation to Marathas

The petition, filed by a member of Republican Party of India, also says that Marathas cannot be called as backward nor can they be included in the Other Backward Classes category.

"Marathas are dominant, affluent, forward caste and not entitled to be included in the list of OBCs," the petition said.

Petitioner Rajaram Kharat also seeks a direction to government to table report of Backward Classes Commission headed by Retd Justice R M Bapat in both the Houses of the legislature during the current session.

As per the petition, under the Maharashtra State Backward Classes Commission Act, 2005, report of the Bapat Commission, which was not in favour of granting reservation to Maratha community, should have been accepted by the state.

However, it alleges, that under pressure from Maratha organisations, the state is "on the verge of extending reservations to Marathas, by including them in OBC".

This has "created feeling of insecurity amongst the neo-Buddhists, scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and the downtrodden," the petition said. The PIL is likely to come up for hearing on Wednesday.

Stating that under the Backward Classes Commission Act, it is mandatory for the government to table a report before the legislatures, the petitioner alleged that the government has not done so.

Instead of tabling the Bapat Commission report, which came out on July 25, 2008, the state government has set up a new commission under Justice B P Saraf, the PIL said. The PIL demands that government be restrained from including any community, including Marathas, in the OBC category before the receipt of the Saraf commission's report.