With a final fight due in the Apex Court, the Devendra Fadnavis-led BJP government in the state has outperformed its predecessors in making the Maratha reservation a reality. Thursday's verdict by the Bombay High Court not only ratified the state's right to legislate a law that surpassed a 50 per cent cap on quota, but also upheld the reservation, saying that the quantum should be less than 16 per cent that the state law had granted to the community under a new category of Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC).

The court said giving reservation was the government's prerogative, but set a cap of 12 per cent (in education) and 13 per cent (jobs), denying 16 per cent each in both sectors. This was in accordance with the finding and recommendation of the backward class commission which had compiled a report on the issue.