MUMBAI, Sept. 11 -- A city-based lawyer, Vinit Dhotre, has challenged the Maharashtra government's September 2 GR granting Kunbi caste certificates to eligible Marathas, enabling them to claim OBC reservation, before the Bombay High Court on Wednesday. In his public interest litigation (PIL), Dhotre argued that the move violates the right to equality and the Supreme Court's Indra Sawhney judgement (1992), which capped total reservations at 50%, asserting that merit is the rule and caste-based reservation the exception. He also contended that the state lacked legislative competence to issue the resolution under the Constitution. The petition highlights that Article 342A of the Constitution, introduced via the 102nd Amendment Act (2018) and amended in 2021, empowers the President to identify socially and educationally backward classes (SEBCs) and allows states to maintain a separate SEBC list. Dhotre argued that the GR was designed to bypass the Supreme Court's ruling in Jaishri Patil vs Chief Minister, Maharashtra (2021), which invalidated the state's 2018 SEBC Act for breaching the 50% reservation cap and the constitutional amendment. Further, the PIL claimed the GR contravenes the procedure under the Maharashtra Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Denotified Tribes, Nomadic Tribes, Other Backward Classes, and Special Backward Category (Regulation of Issuance and Verification of Caste Certificate) Act, 2000. Dhotre also pointed out the resolution would impact over 260 castes and clans already recognised as OBCs, who are underrepresented in government decisions. The PIL, to be filed by advocate Rajesh Khobragade on Friday, seeks a court directive to quash the GR....