Maha to withdraw all Maratha quota cases, suspend officers

The Maharashtra government on Monday decided to withdraw all cases filed against Maratha quota protesters and suspended three senior police officers as chief minister Eknath Shinde reiterated his commitment to grant reservation to the influential community and appealed to the main agitator to end his hunger strike.

- Surendra P Gangan

The announcements came after an all-party meeting attended by all major political parties in the state passed a resolution that appealed to the main protester, Manoj Jarange Patil to call off his 14-day-long hunger strike and asked him to be part of the committee constituted to draft a reservation strategy for Marathas.

"We are admitting the demand of withdrawing all the cases registered against the protesters during their protest last week. The officials concerned have been directed to act immediately on it," Shinde said.

"There was a demand for the suspension of the officials concerned. We are suspending three senior officers, including additional superintendent of police (SP) Rahul Khade and deputy SP Mukund Aghav," he added.

The demand for quotas by Marathas is decades old, but in 2018, the state government granted 16% reservation in the face of sweeping protests. It was slashed to 13% in jobs and 12% in education by the Bombay high court. In 2021, the Supreme Court quashed the move.