A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been submitted to the Bombay High Court challenging the resolution of the Maharashtra State Government, which aims to grant Kunbi Caste Certificates to Marathas in the state. Mangesh Sasane, the Chairman of the Other Backward Class Welfare Community, filed the PIL, contending that the government's January 26 notification is eroding the reservation benefits meant for Other Backward Classes (OBC) by incorporating Marathas into the OBC category.

The notification was issued by the government to amend the rules governing the issuance and verification of caste certificates for Scheduled Castes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Special Backward Category, as established in the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Denotified Tribes (Vimukta Jatis), Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of) Caste Certificate Rules, 2012.

Protests have erupted in Maharashtra as the Maratha community advocates for reservations in government jobs. In a notable development on January 20, 2024, Maratha Reservation Activist Jarenge Patil initiated a march from Jalna to Mumbai. Patil's demand was centered on the issuance of Kunbi certificates to members of the Maratha community, aiming to enable them to access reservation benefits.

In response to the agitation, the state government released a draft notification outlining the issuance of Kunbi certificates specifically for Marathas. This move led to the discontinuation of the protest, as the community's demand for reservations took a step forward with the government's proposed action.

According to the PIL, it was highlighted that initially, obtaining Kunbi certificates for Marathas posed challenges, but with each protest, the process was progressively streamlined, seemingly tailored to ease the acquisition for the Maratha community. Furthermore, the plea asserted that the Supreme Court had declared the State Government's earlier decision to provide reservations to Marathas as unconstitutional in 2021.

The current move to allow Marathas to obtain Kunbi certificates and avail reservation benefits was characterized in the PIL as a method of providing them with a backdoor entry to the benefits, which the court had previously deemed unconstitutional.