Not aggrieved party, says HC; dismisses PIL against Maratha quota

Mumbai, Sep 18 (PTI) The Bombay High Court on Thursday dismissed a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by an advocate against the Maharashtra government's decision to issue Kunbi caste certificates to Maratha community members for reservation, noting the petitioner was not an aggrieved person.

A bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad noted that aggrieved persons (people from the Other Backward Classes category) have already filed petitions in the HC, which will be heard by another bench on September 22.

"At this stage, this public interest litigation is thoroughly misconceived. It was open for the aggrieved persons (to challenge the government decision), not for any person," HC said.

"Malice in law can be taken up only by aggrieved persons and these petitioners are not aggrieved persons," it added.

Without going into the merits of the government resolution (GR), we would observe that the high court is required to discourage filing of petitions labelled as PILs in matters where individuals who feel affected by a government decision have approached the court, the bench said.

It is in public interest that there should not be multiplicity of litigations, the court said adding a PIL is filed only so that a particular section of the society does not remain unheard and their cause should be espoused in a court of law.

"This particular PIL is not one where we should grant any indulgence. We are, therefore, not inclined to entertain this PIL and the same is dismissed," HC said.

The bench said the advocate, Vinit Vinod Dhotre, has the liberty to file an application seeking to intervene in the petitions filed by the aggrieved persons.

"If the other bench feels that it requires these petitioners' assistance then it may decide to hear them," the HC said.

Dhotre's advocate told the court that the PIL was maintainable as the petitioner belonged to the Scheduled Caste category.

Advocate General Birendra Saraf, however, opposed it and said the GR has got nothing to do with the SC community.

Dhotre, in his PIL, had challenged the government resolutions to issue Kunbi caste certificates to the Maratha community members so that they can avail reservations in education and jobs.

The plea claimed the government's decision was arbitrary, unconstitutional and bad in law, and deserves to be quashed.

Four petitions were later filed by persons from the OBC category challenging the government decision. These petitions are to be taken up for hearing by a bench headed by Justice Revati Mohite Dere on Monday.

The government's decision to issue Kunbi caste certificates to eligible persons from the Maratha community came after quota activist Manoj Jarange staged an indefinite hunger strike for five days from August 29 at Azad Maidan in south Mumbai.

During the five days, Jarange and his supporters surrounded several vital areas in south Mumbai, drawing the ire of the Bombay High Court, which said the city had been paralysed and brought to a standstill.

On September 2, the government issued a resolution on the Hyderabad Gazetteer and announced the formation of a committee to facilitate the issuance of Kunbi caste certificates to Marathas who are able to produce documentary evidence recognising them as Kunbis in the past.

There has been restlessness among OBCs after the state social justice and special assistance department issued the GR on implementing the Hyderabad Gazetteer, which will allow eligible members of the Maratha community to apply for Kunbi caste certificates.

This will enable them to claim quota under the OBC category after certificates are issued. Kunbis, an agrarian community, are part of the OBC segment in Maharashtra. PTI SP GK BNM