The Bombay High Court has issued a ruling allowing Maratha candidates who originally applied under the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) category for state government jobs advertised in 2019 to now be considered under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) category.

In 2018, the Maharashtra government enacted the Maharashtra State Reservation for Socially and Educationally Backward Class Act (SEBC Act), which allocated 13% of total admissions in educational institutions and 16% of total appointments in direct recruitment for public services and posts to the Maratha community. However, the Supreme Court later declared the SEBC Act unconstitutional. Following this, the state issued Government Resolutions (GRs) allowing SEBC candidates who had applied under the SEBC category to apply under the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) category for posts advertised in 2019.

The Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) advertised 1,145 posts, with 94 posts reserved for SEBC and 17 for the original EWS quota. The Maharashtra Administrative Tribunal (MAT) faced legal challenges from candidates who initially applied under the EWS category, arguing that including SEBC candidates in their category would impact their chances of appointment and seniority. MAT upheld their challenge, disqualifying SEBC candidates. The disqualified candidates then approached the High Court.

The High Court bench of Justices Nitin Jamdar and Manjusha Deshpande overturned the MAT order, stating that it deviated from established legal principles and negatively impacted a significant number of candidates. The bench criticized MAT for extending its scope beyond a service dispute, emphasizing that the order's general observations exceeded the dispute's scope. The bench highlighted that after the SEBC Act was declared unconstitutional, seats reserved for SEBC candidates were integrated into the general category. Candidates who initially applied under SEBC were allowed to apply under EWS with a merit-based approach. However, the MAT order disqualified Maratha candidates from EWS, creating an inequitable situation, as some of them had secured higher marks.