PILs in Bombay High Court challenge Maratha-Kunbi certificate order

A set of Public Interest Litigations (PILs) has been filed in the Bombay High Court challenging the Maharashtra government’s September 2, 2025, Government Resolution (GR) that allows members of the Maratha community to obtain Kunbi caste certificates and avail reservation under the Other Backward Classes (OBC) category.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad on Wednesday directed Mangesh Sasane, chairperson of the OBC Welfare Foundation, to move an interim application if he wished to amend his pending PIL to include a challenge to the September 2 notification. The matter is likely to be heard next week.

Mr. Sasane, who had earlier opposed Marathas’ inclusion in the OBC list, has now sought to amend his plea to challenge the latest resolution. The petitions describe the move as arbitrary and unconstitutional, terming it political appeasement, and note that successive governments have contradicted themselves on granting Marathas Kunbi caste certificates since 2004.

In another PIL, advocate Vinit Vinod Dhotre, through counsel Rajesh P. Khobragade, contended that the GR “arbitrarily extends OBC status to Marathas, a politically dominant and socially advanced community, without sufficient data” and thus violates Article 14 of the Constitution. The petition, filed on September 4, 2025, stated, “The issuance of caste certificates is governed by the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, VJNT, SBC & OBC (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificates Act, 2000. The impugned GR bypasses the stringent legal and statutory safeguards of this Act, making it an action that is ultra vires (beyond the legal power or authority of) the parent law.”

The plea further alleges that the measure is a “colourable exercise of power” after the Supreme Court in 2021 struck down the Maratha quota under the Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act of 2018. It argues that only the President has the authority to notify backward classes and that the State lacks legislative competence to alter the list through an executive order.

Another PIL, filed by the Shiva Akhil Bhartiya Veershaiva Yuvak Sanghatana, a public trust, on September 9 through advocate Satish B. Talekar, cited multiple reports of the State and National Backward Classes Commissions and previous judicial pronouncements to assert that “Marathas and Kunbis are distinct communities and cannot be equated.” The plea described the GR as an act of “political expediency” and sought its quashing.

It said, “Self-proclaimed Maratha leader Shri Manoj Jarange-Patil, who has emerged as a charismatic persona and larger-than-life figure to the Maratha community, launched an indefinite hunger strike in August 2025, pressing for the issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to all Marathas, which would allow them to avail reservation benefits under the Other Backward Classes category. His fast, which saw him forsake even water, galvanized thousands of supporters who gathered in Mumbai, significantly disrupting city life and intensifying the political pressure on the State government. The Government was compelled to engage in negotiations as Jarange-Patil’s health worsened and the protest swelled.”

The September 2 GR directed authorities to use entries in the Hyderabad Gazette to facilitate the issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas who can produce documentary evidence of Kunbi lineage. OBC organisations have since voiced concern that the decision could dilute their share of reservation.