Mahayuti govt cancels 5% Muslim quota: What was it, why it was scrapped and why opposition is angry | India News

NEW DELHI: The Mahayuti government in Maharashtra has formally cancelled the five per cent reservation for Muslims in jobs and education.The Social Justice Department on Tuesday issued a Government Resolution (GR) cancelling its 2014 order that had granted a 5 per cent reservation to the Muslim community in educational institutions and government and semi-government jobs — a provision that had already been legally invalidated over a decade ago.The reservation was introduced in July 2014 through an ordinance, classifying Muslims under the Special Backward Class-A (SBC-A) category. However, the policy was challenged in the Bombay High Court, which stayed its implementation in November 2014.What was the 5% Muslim quotaThe five per cent reservation for Muslims was introduced in July 2014 by the then Congress–NCP government through an ordinance. The move came alongside a 16 per cent reservation for Marathas and was pitched as a response to socio-economic data indicating backwardness among sections of the Muslim community.The quota was not framed as religion-based. Muslims were classified under a new category, Special Backward Class-A (SBC-A), and the benefits were to apply to government jobs, semi-government posts and admissions to educational institutions.The ordinance was cleared just months before the 2014 assembly elections, making it politically contentious from the outset.The legal troubleAlmost immediately after the ordinance was issued, it was challenged in court. Petitioners argued that reservations based on religion violated constitutional principles and that the quota breached the 50 per cent ceiling on reservations laid down by the Supreme Court in earlier judgments.In November 2014, the Bombay High Court stayed the implementation of the ordinance. This meant the quota could not be operationalised unless the stay was vacated or the policy was reworked.Meanwhile, the ordinance also faced a procedural hurdle. Under the Constitution, an ordinance must be converted into law by being passed in the legislature within a stipulated period. The Maharashtra legislature did not take up the ordinance before the deadline of December 23, 2014, causing it to lapse automatically.Subsequently, Supreme Court, while deciding a Special Leave Petition against the high court’s order, effectively upheld the legal position that the quota could not continue.As a result, the five per cent Muslim reservation never came into force in practice.Why cancel it nowDespite the ordinance having lapsed and the courts having stayed its implementation, the original 2014 government resolution was never formally withdrawn. Over the years, this created administrative ambiguity, with sporadic applications for caste or validity certificates under the SBC-A category.The Maharashtra government said the latest GR is meant to remove this ambiguity by formally cancelling all decisions and communications linked to a quota that has no legal standing.What is the GR The new directive:

The government has underlined that no existing benefits are being withdrawn, since the quota was never operational.Opposition protestsCongress leaders have strongly criticised the move, arguing that even if the quota was legally stalled, formally scrapping it sends a political message of exclusion.Mumbai Congress MP Varsha Gaikwad described the decision as “harmful to democracy” and said it would push Muslims away from the mainstream. She argued that instead of cancelling the quota, successive BJP-led governments should have explored legally sustainable ways to address backwardness among Muslims.NCP (SP) spokesperson Crasto said the decision proves that the BJP doesn’t value Muslim leaders of the party and its allies. “It also shows that these Muslim leaders won’t get justice from the BJP,” he claimed.(With agency inputs)