The petitions have challenged the Bombay High Court order of June 2019. (File)

The Supreme Court on Monday adjourned a hearing on petitions challenging the Maharashtra law providing reservation to Marathas in jobs and admissions to September 1, with the state undertaking not to make any fresh recruitments till September 15, 2020.

Senior Advocates Mukul Rohatgi and P S Patwalia, appearing for the state government, told a bench of Justices L N Rao, Hemant Gupta and S Ravindra Bhat that the state had already decided by way of a Government Resolution on May 4 that no fresh recruitment will be made.

The SC bench was hearing petitions challenging The Socially and Educationally Backward Classes (SEBC) Act, 2018.

The petitions have challenged the Bombay High Court order of June 2019 which, while upholding the law, had also held that 16 per cent reservation was not justifiable and added that the quota should not exceed 12 per cent in employment and 13 per cent in admissions to government-run educational institutes.

“At the outset, Mr Mukul Rohatgi, learned senior counsel appearing for the State of Maharashtra, submitted that as per the Government Resolution which was passed by the State of Maharashtra on 04.05.2020, except Public Health Department and Department of Medical Education and Research, all the other Departments shall not undertake any type of fresh recruitment process…Mr Mukul Rohatgi and Mr PS Patwalia, senior counsel, appearing on behalf of the State of Maharashtra, submitted that no regular appointments shall be made in terms of the GR (government resolution) dated May 4, 2020 till September 15, 2020,” the bench noted.

The court however declined to interfere with PG medical admissions as they are in the final stage. It also fixed August 25 to hear an application for referring the matter to a Constitution Bench.