Mumbai: In an attempt to justify its decision to provide reservations for Muslims and Marathas in jobs and educational institutions across the state, the Maharashtra government on Wednesday said that the decision was based on the recommendations of the Narayan Rane committee report.
Advocate General Darius Khambata informed the Bombay High Court that the both the communities were socially and economically backward.
“The decision to provide five per cent reservation for Muslims was further based on the recommendations of Rajinder Sachhar committee and Mahmoodur Rahman committee,” the Advocate General said.
He, however, further clarified that those Muslims who are eligible for reservations under Other Backward Class (OBC) category shall not get the benefit of reservations under the new quota.
The division bench headed by Chief Justice Mohit Shah was hearing a bunch of public interest litigations (PILs) challenging the recent government notification announcing reservations.
The petitions alleged that the present decision will take up the reservation in Maharashtra to 73 per cent while the Supreme Court's guidelines say that reservations cannot exceed 50 per cent.
