The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to all state governments to get their response on whether Maratha reservation could be allowed beyond the 50 per cent threshold, Bar & Bench reported.

A Constitution Bench consisting of Justices Ashok Bhushan, L Nageswara Rao, S Abdul Nazeer, Hemant Gupta and Ravindra Bhat issued formal notices to the states and posted the matter for hearing on March 15. The bench will also stipulate on the 1992 Supreme Court judgment in Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, which caps the reservation to 50 per cent.

The apex court was hearing appeals filed against a judgment of the Bombay High Court upholding the validity of the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act.

In September 2019, the Supreme Court had stayed the Maratha reservation granted under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category. The court had referred the matter to a larger constitutional bench for further hearing. Since then, the government has not made any recruitment of Maratha candidates under reservation in government jobs or educational institutions.

Following the SC stay on the reservation, the Maharashtra government was facing many challenges, which were discussed at the sub-committee meeting where Minister for Labour and Excise, Dilip Walse Patil, and Congress Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat were present.

The Maratha Kranti Morcha has warned the Maharashtra government against conducting any recruitment in government jobs till reservation under SEBC is restored.