The Legal Impossibility of Maratha Reservations

Dr. Asang Wankhede argues that constitutional recognition of Marathas as a socially and educationally backward class, and the consequent grant of reservation benefits, is legally untenable under India’s settled reservation jurisprudence. Tracing successive legislative and executive attempts by the Maharashtra government, from the 2014 Ordinance and ESBC Act to the 2018 and 2024 SEBC Acts and the Kunbi certification exercise, the paper contends that each has failed because empirical evidence consistently demonstrates Marathas’ political, social, educational, and economic dominance rather than backwardness. Drawing extensively on Supreme Court and Bombay High Court decisions, the author argues that Marathas fail to satisfy the constitutional tests of social and educational backwardness, inadequate representation in public employment, and the “extraordinary circumstances” required to breach the 50% reservation ceiling under Indra Sawhney. The paper concludes that repeated legislative attempts cannot manufacture constitutional validity where empirical data does not support backwardness, making Maratha reservations legally impossible under the existing constitutional framework.

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CALJ_Volume X Issue I_Wankhede.pdf

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