The Supreme Court on Friday refused to stay the Bombay High Court judgment on the Maratha quota that upheld its constitutional validity.
The top court sought the Maharashtra government's response on pleas challenging the Bombay High Court order that gave its stamp of approval to the reservations to the Maratha community in education and jobs.
Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, however, made it clear that the aspect allowing the reservation for Marathas with a retrospective effect from 2014 would not be made operational.
The bench was hearing two appeals, including one filed by J Laxman Rao Patil challenging the High Court order that upheld the constitutional validity of the quota for the Maratha community in education and government jobs in Maharashtra.
The Bombay High Court while upholding the constitutional validity of the Maratha quota law had said that the reservation should not be 16 per cent but 12-13 per cent as recommended by the backward commission. It had also said that 16 per cent reservation to the community was "not justifiable".