The Supreme Court will take up on January 24, a curative petition challenging the Apex Court verdict of May 2021, which struck down the Maharashtra government law providing 50 percent reservation to Maratha community, terming it as unconstitutional.
The decision was taken by the Bench of Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul, justice Sanjiv Khanna and Justice BR Gavai on December 6.
Earlier on October 13, CJI Chandrachud had said that a curative petition against the Supreme Court verdict would be listed in due course.
In July 2021, a five-judge Bench led by Justice (retired) Ashok Bhushan had refused to reconsider the verdict on the grounds that the Central government alone was empowered to identify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBC) to include them in the Central List for claiming reservation benefits.
While dismissing the petition, the majority of the Bench ruled that the various grounds taken in the review petition have already been dealt with in the main judgement.
It further observed that the grounds taken in the plea did not fall within the limited ground on which a review petition could be considered.
The May 2021 verdict of the Apex Court had declared the Maharashtra State law which provides reservation benefits to the Maratha community, taking the quota limit in the State in excess of 50 percent, as unconstitutional. The Bench had further refused to revisit its 1992 Indira Sawhney verdict, which fixed the ceiling limit for reservation at 50 percent.