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10% reservation for economically weak among upper casteTHE NEWS :- The Union Cabinet has approved a proposal for introduction of the Constitution (One Hundred and Twenty- Fourth Amendment) Bill, extending 10% quota to “the economically weaker sections in the general category who are not covered by any of the existing schemes of reservation”.The bill is designed to amend the Constitution to extend 10% reservation in direct recruitment in government jobs and for admission in higher educational institutions to “economically weaker” sections among all castes and communities, Christians and Muslims included, who are not eligible under the existing quotas.What would it take for the quota to become reality?It will need an amendment of Articles 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex or place of birth) and 16 (equality of opportunity in matters of public employment) of the Constitution.The amendment will have to be ratified in both Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha, by at least two thirds of members present and voting, and by the legislatures of not less than half the states.The 10% reservation will be in addition to the existing cap of 50% reservation for the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes and the Other Backward Classes, taking total reservation to 60%. The quota targets the poor among the upper castes. This will be over and above 50% mandated by Constitution and hence the need for Constitution amendment Bill.Supreme Court in Indira Sawhney case:The proposed law would face roadblocks if challenged in the Supreme Court.A nine-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court in the Indira Sawhney case of 1992 specifically answered the question “whether backward classes can be identified only and exclusively with reference to the economic criterion.”The constitution bench had categorically ruled that a backward class cannot be determined only and exclusively with reference to economic criterion. The bench had held that economic criterion may be a consideration or basis along with, and in addition to, social backwardness, but it can never be the sole criterion.The bench in its judgement declared 50% quota as the rule unless extraordinary situations “inherent in the great diversity of this country and the people” happen. Even then, the court stated that extreme caution is to be exercised and a special case should be made out.It seeks to insert a separate clause in article 16 after clause (5) which reads as:“Nothing in this article shall prevent the State from making any provision for the reservation of appointments or posts in favour of any economically weaker sections of citizens other than the classes mentioned in clause (4), in addition to the existing reservation and subject to a maximum of 10% of the posts in each category”It seeks 10% reservation for the economically weaker sections of society in higher educational institutes, private institutions whether aided or unaided by the State other than the minority educational institutions referred to in Article 30.It also provides reservation in posts in initial appointment in services under the State.Qualifying Criteria for the proposed quotaGeneral category individuals All members of whose family together earn less than Rs. 8 lakh per annum  Have less than five acres of agricultural land  Do not possess a residential flat of area 1,000 sq ft or larger  Do not possess a residential plot of area 100 yards or more in notified municipalities and 200 yards or more in areas other than notified municipalitiesSignificance of the proposed quota:1. At present, the economically weaker sections of citizens have largely remained excluded from attending higher educational institutions and public employment on account of their financial incapacity.The decision to bring in the 10% t economic criteria reservation is progressive in nature and will address the issues of educational and income inequality in India.2. Critics opposing reservation “by birth” have always argued that the criteria for reservation should be economic because there are many people or class other than backward classes who are living under deplorable, poverty stricken conditions.3. The proposed quota and the consequent constitutional amendment would give a constitutional recognition to the poor from the upper castes.4. It will unintentionally remove the stigma of reservation. Reservation has historically been associated with caste and generally the upper caste look down upon those who come through reservationBackground:Reservation policies were introduced to ensure that Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) are protected from discrimination in the spheres of employment, education and political representation. The rationale behind reservation was not just improve their economic status, but to address the denial of rights and oppression faced by these groups historically.Constitutional Provisions:1. Article 15(4) and 16(4) of the Constitution enables both the state and Central Governments to reserve seats in public services for the members of the SC and ST, thereby, enshrining Impartiality of opportunity in matters of civic service2. Article 16(4 A): it makes provisions for reservation in the matter of promotion to any class or classes of posts in the services under the State in favour of SCs and STs Article 16 (4 B): It enables the state to fill the unfilled vacancies of a year which are reserved3. for SCs/STs in the succeeding year, thereby nullifying the ceiling of fifty percent reservation on total number of vacancies of that year4. Article 330 and 332: It provides for specific representation through reservation of seats for the SCs and the STs in the Parliament(Article 330) and in the State Legislative Assemblies (Article 332)Key events in the History of Reservations in India1. 1950: Provision made for reservation of seats for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes in legislatures2. 1951: Constitutional amendment brought in to give states the right to reserve seats in educationalinstitutions3. 1955: First backward classes commission, set up under chairman Kaka Kalelkar in 1953, submits itsreport4. 1963: Supreme Court puts a cap of 50% on reservations5. 1979: Second backward classes commission set up under B.P. MandaI. Commission submits its report in1980 in which it recommends 27% reservation for OBC candidates across all services6. 1990: Union government accepts recommendations of Mandal Commission. The commission had recommended 27% reservation for OBCs7. 1992: SC, in the Indira Sawhney judgement, upholds the government’s decision to implement the recommendations. Specifies exclusion of creamy layer8. 1993: National Commission for Backward Classes (NCBC) set up9. 2008: SC upholds the constitutional validity of the Central Educational Institutions Act which provides for 27% quota for OBCs in higher educational institutions 10. 2010: Following years of protests by Gujjars, Rajasthan government agrees to provide reservation within quota 11. 2016: • Maratha organizations hold silent marches to demand a quota for the community • Violent protests by Jats in Haryana demanding reservation 12. 2018: Parliament passes a bill to give Statutory powers of NCBC. Maharashtra Legislature passes bill proposing 16% Reservation for Maharashtra in educational institution and government jobs.Previous Attempts for Reservation on economic criteria1991:PV Narasimha Rao government had tried giving reservation based on economic Welcome,www.criteria.in 1992, while upholding reservation for OBCs as per the Mandal Commission recommendation, the Supreme Court, in the Indra Sawhney & Others vs Union Of India case, directed that reservation be restricted to maximum 50%. It also said thatseparate reservation for economically poor among forward class was invalid as Article 15(4) provided for only socially and educationally backward classes, and not economically backward classes.2008: Erstwhile Kerala government decided to reserve 10% seats in graduation and PG courses in government colleges and 7.5% seats in universities for the economically backward among the unreserved category. An appeal is pending in the Supreme Court.2011: Erstwhile Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh wrote to the central government asking for reservation for uppercaste poor.2015:Rajasthan assembly passed bill to provide a 14% quota to the economically backward classes (EBCs) among the forward castes. However, SC held it cannot breach 50% ceiling2016: Ordinance promulgated in Gujarat which provided 10% quota for EBCs among upper castes. However, Gujarat High Court in the DayaramKhemkaranVermavs. State of Gujarat quashed the ordinance.SR Sinho Commission on Economically Backward Classes (EBCs), 2006 (report submitted in 2010):1. General category poor be given quotas in government jobs and education. For this, the commission recommended a constitutional amendment.2. The commission noted that non-income tax payee general category people were economically backward, at par with the OBCs. It held that they should be treated like OBCs.3. EBC children be made eligible for soft loans for higher education, scholarships, coaching for central and state civil services examinations, subsidized health facilities, and government help in housing sector in the form of soft loans with lower rates of interest4. Development of skills and vocational training for the EBCs so that they can earn their livelihood, and recommended the setting up of a National Commission for providing financial assistance to EBCs.Challenges before the proposed Quota:1. Criteria: Critics argue that the 8 lakh income threshold is too high and will practically cover nearly the entire population not already covered by reservations. Data from the I-T department as well as reports from the NSSO show that at least 95% of Indian families will fall within this limit. Other qualifying criteria have also been argued to be flawed.2. Sole economic criterion: The SC in Indira Sawhney case has upheld that a backward class cannot be determined only and exclusively with reference to economic criterion. Thus introducing a quota based on only economic dimensions will face judicial scrutiny.3. 50% cap:The Supreme Court has laid the bar for reservations at 50% — the current proposal will exceed the limit and thus could be legally challenged.4. Determining economic backwardness: Even if the bill is passed, a formidable challenge would be determining economic backwardness. There are concerns over inclusion and exclusion of persons under the criteria.5. Implementation: Critics argue that even if the proposal is legislated, the implementation would be a great challenge as the states do not have the finances to implement even the existing and constitutionally mandated reservations.6. Shrinking jobs: When government in itself is trying to limit its public services along with advancement of technology in government system. Therefore providing quota in jobs in such a scenario will be a futile exercise.7. Encouraging reservations: The intent of constitutional makers as originally manifested through Article 15 and 16 was to be reviewed after 10 yrs. But it is an irony that instead of restricting the policy of positive discrimination government is pushing it in some or other forms.8. Populist measure:When elections are near, several populists’ initiatives are advanced by political parties like loan waiver, reservations etc. and given the low levels of political literacy and awareness among masses often parties take leverage of the same thereby affecting the socio-economic and political structure at large .9. Lacks of Evidences to support outcomes: Even after years of reservation policy, there are no substantial evidences to support the achievements of the original intent of affirmative action. For Example, only about 4% each of rural Scheduled Tribe and Scheduled Caste households have a member in a government job.10. Absence of Level Playing Field: It has been observed that few forward among the reserved category could only reap the benefit of reservation policy. Such fear can spilled over reservation based on economic criteria as well. Upper ladder in the reserved category are primarily benefitted from the policy while the benefits do not reach the marginalized.

ndtv.comMarathas vs The Dalits: The Seething Caste War In MaharashtraWritten by Shikha Trivedy | Updated: Sep 27, 2016 15:32 ISTKolhapur, Maharashtra: Lakhs of people from Maharashtra's most powerful caste group, the Marathas, held a muk or silent rally in Pune on Sunday to protest the rape and killing of a 14-year-old girl from the community by three Dalit boys in the village of Kopardi in Ahmednagar district in July. Similar demonstrations have been held since the incident in almost every major town of the Marathwada region dominated by Marathas and are now spreading to the rest of the state under the banner of a newly floated non-political outfit, the Maratha Kranti Samiti.The clout of the new agency is derived partly from its success in bringing on board older groups that have represented the upper caste Marathas - groups like the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh, Sambhaji Brigade and the Maratha Seva Sangh. They want the death penalty for the accused Dalits. They are asking for the abolition of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA) 1989 because they say this law, which is meant to prevent and punish violence against Dalits and Adivasis, is being misused by these groups to target the Marathas. "The Dalits receive financial compensation for any atrocity committed on them under the Act. To be able to get this money, they have started filing false cases against the Marathas," alleged a young boy at the Pune rally.But official figures reveal just the opposite. That despite the Act, Maharashtra's weakest castes have little access to justice and continue to be victims of discrimination.Dalits and Adivasis constitute 19% of the state's population, but last year, only 1% of all FIRs registered by the police were filed by members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Of these, the Atrocities Act was applied in less than 40% of the complaints. The conviction rate under the Act has been even more dismal, an average of 7% in the last five years. A staggering 87% of the cases are still pending trial.Which leads many to believe that while Maratha anger may have justifiably been provoked by the Kopardi rape and killing, the demand to scrap the Atrocities Act and restore their honour is directly linked to the community's deep resentment of the government's reservation policy of guaranteeing jobs and seats in educational institutions to lower castes.This affirmative action by the country's lawmakers, which has visibly improved the lives of a section of society's most marginalised people, has also left dominant caste groups like the Jats in Haryana, the Patels in Gujarat and the Marathas fearful of losing their political, social and economic power, traditionally derived from their status as major farmers, and in particular, as cultivators of sugar cane.That's why Marathas, who make up 33% of the state's population, also want to be tagged as an Other Backward Caste - to benefit from reservation, a demand made by the Patels in Gujarat just a few months ago. They are convinced it is the only way to protect the community's future.The demand for a Maratha quota is not a new one. It was first raised after the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report in the early 1990s which added Other Backward Castes (OBC) as a recipient of the benefits of reservation. The influence and participation of OBCs in village panchayats and gram sabhascoincided with the decline in the state's agriculture sector and cooperative societies in rural Maharashtra, the backbone of Maratha pride and power.By the early 2000s, the quota agitation had become more strident. It was spearheaded by militant outfits like the Sambhaji Brigade, now a part of the Maratha Kranti Samiti, which were closely associated with the Nationalist Congress Party and its president, Sharad Pawar. (It's an open secret that Pawar's party supported the 2004 attack by the Sambhaji Brigade on a prestigious research institute in Pune to protest against James Laine's book on Shivaji, alleging it had insulted Maharashtra's legendary warrior king. The violence consolidated the Maratha vote in favour of Pawar, and his party won 72 seats in the assembly elections held that year.)Maratha protesters are demanding 16 per cent quotas in jobs and educationThe Supreme Court has ordered a 50% cap on reserved jobs and college seats - a limit that Maharashtra has already reached. So the Marathas have not been added to the list of beneficiaries. Moreover, three government commissions since the 1990s have stated that since the community never faced social stigma, it cannot qualify as an Other Backward Caste.In the general election in 2014, the Marathas overwhelmingly backed Narendra Modi's development agenda, siding with the BJP and abandoning Sharad Pawar. His party, then in power as part of a coalition with the Congress, moved quickly to win the Marathas back before the state election, which was held just five months after the national election. The coalition announced that an additional 16% reservation would be kept aside for the Marathas because they were economically backward - a route attempted often by state governments to circumvent the Supreme Court limit on caste-based reservation. The new recommendations of the government were based on a survey conducted by the then Industries Minister Narayan Rane, which claimed that only 12% of Marathas go to college and less than 15% are employed by the government.The Marathas spurned Mr Pawar and backed the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the election, but their renewed demand for reservations is based on the proposal formed by the NCP-Congress alliance.Narayan Rane's findings failed to point out the real reason for the community's backwardness was the Marathas themselves. Today, 50% of all educational institutions, 70% of district co-operative banks and 90% of the sugar factories in Maharashtra are controlled largely by a handful of Maratha politicians. Just 3,000 families own 72% of the state's total agricultural land. Power and wealth have been increasingly concentrated among an elite section. Simultaneously, the community has been let down by its leaders over the decades.Consider this. Of Maharashtra's 18 Chief Ministers since the state was formed in 1960, ten have been Marathas. The community has also contributed more than half the state's lawmakers (across parties), many of whom amassed great personal wealth and power, but failed to create jobs or promote education. A recent advertisement by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) for filling five vacancies of porters received over 2,500 applications. The required qualification was Class IV pass, but those competing for the job included 250 postgraduates and nearly 1,000 graduates. Amongst them were young Maratha boys convinced that the reservation policy which excludes them is responsible for their unemployment. One of them told NDTV "It is worse than any atrocity committed on a Dalit because they will get compensation from the government and their future is taken care of. We beg, borrow and steal money to fund our education and then spend the rest of our lives breaking stones."Falling desperately short of visionaries, Maratha leaders have come across as just regional satraps more interested in making money for themselves and their parties through capitation or a set fee per student in colleges built by them, presiding over - even facilitating - the decline of sugar cooperatives and then buying them in sweetheart deals, and relaunching them as private sugar-processing factories that make good money."If the leaders were genuinely concerned about the backwardness of the community, then they would have addressed the issue of agricultural revival or job creation in areas like Marathwada where the vast majority of poor Marathas live, or in several parts of the so-called prosperous sugar belt of Western Maharashtra which are still underdeveloped. But they have not raised these economic concerns at the rallies, and focused only on the perceived threat to their honour and identity from the others," Professor Prakash Pawar, who teaches Political Science at Kolhapur University, told NDTV.The BJP has accused Maratha leaders in the Congress and Mr Pawar's party of orchestrating these protests to derail its government's investigation into several scams in the cooperative and irrigation sector during their rule - among those being probed are Mr Pawar's powerful nephew, Ajit Pawar, who was the state's Irrigation Minister for 10 years. But many see this mobilisation as an attempt by Maratha politicians across parties to stay relevant, at a time when other caste groups are asserting themselves in very diverse ways - they cite the rise of a highly educated class among Dalits, or the Brahmin resurgence in the BJP (apart from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar, both senior leaders from Maharashtra, are also Brahmins.)Chief Minister Fadnavis has announced the appointment of Ujjwal Nikam as the public prosecutor in the murder of the Maratha teen and promised that the suspects will be awarded the death penalty if found guilty.Exactly ten years ago this week, on September 29, 2006, the Mumbai High Court refused to apply the SC/ST Atrocities Act to the public lynching of the wife and children of Bhaiyalal Bhotmange, a Dalit farmer in the village of Khairlanji in Maharashtra's Bhandara district. Their attackers were Kunbis, a sub-caste of the Marathas. The judges ruled it was a case of revenge killing, not a caste-based attack. The accused were sentenced to 25 years in prison. The public prosecutor in this case was also Ujjwal Nikam - while the Chief Minister of the State at the time was Vilasrao Deshmukh, a Maratha.© Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2016. All Rights Reserved

ndtv.comMarathas vs The Dalits: The Seething Caste War In MaharashtraWritten by Shikha Trivedy | Updated: Sep 27, 2016 15:32 ISTKolhapur, Maharashtra: Lakhs of people from Maharashtra's most powerful caste group, the Marathas, held a muk or silent rally in Pune on Sunday to protest the rape and killing of a 14-year-old girl from the community by three Dalit boys in the village of Kopardi in Ahmednagar district in July. Similar demonstrations have been held since the incident in almost every major town of the Marathwada region dominated by Marathas and are now spreading to the rest of the state under the banner of a newly floated non-political outfit, the Maratha Kranti Samiti.The clout of the new agency is derived partly from its success in bringing on board older groups that have represented the upper caste Marathas - groups like the Akhil Bharatiya Maratha Mahasangh, Sambhaji Brigade and the Maratha Seva Sangh. They want the death penalty for the accused Dalits. They are asking for the abolition of the Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe Prevention of Atrocities Act (POA) 1989 because they say this law, which is meant to prevent and punish violence against Dalits and Adivasis, is being misused by these groups to target the Marathas. "The Dalits receive financial compensation for any atrocity committed on them under the Act. To be able to get this money, they have started filing false cases against the Marathas," alleged a young boy at the Pune rally.But official figures reveal just the opposite. That despite the Act, Maharashtra's weakest castes have little access to justice and continue to be victims of discrimination.Dalits and Adivasis constitute 19% of the state's population, but last year, only 1% of all FIRs registered by the police were filed by members of the Scheduled Castes and Tribes. Of these, the Atrocities Act was applied in less than 40% of the complaints. The conviction rate under the Act has been even more dismal, an average of 7% in the last five years. A staggering 87% of the cases are still pending trial.Which leads many to believe that while Maratha anger may have justifiably been provoked by the Kopardi rape and killing, the demand to scrap the Atrocities Act and restore their honour is directly linked to the community's deep resentment of the government's reservation policy of guaranteeing jobs and seats in educational institutions to lower castes.This affirmative action by the country's lawmakers, which has visibly improved the lives of a section of society's most marginalised people, has also left dominant caste groups like the Jats in Haryana, the Patels in Gujarat and the Marathas fearful of losing their political, social and economic power, traditionally derived from their status as major farmers, and in particular, as cultivators of sugar cane.That's why Marathas, who make up 33% of the state's population, also want to be tagged as an Other Backward Caste - to benefit from reservation, a demand made by the Patels in Gujarat just a few months ago. They are convinced it is the only way to protect the community's future.The demand for a Maratha quota is not a new one. It was first raised after the implementation of the Mandal Commission Report in the early 1990s which added Other Backward Castes (OBC) as a recipient of the benefits of reservation. The influence and participation of OBCs in village panchayats and gram sabhascoincided with the decline in the state's agriculture sector and cooperative societies in rural Maharashtra, the backbone of Maratha pride and power.By the early 2000s, the quota agitation had become more strident. It was spearheaded by militant outfits like the Sambhaji Brigade, now a part of the Maratha Kranti Samiti, which were closely associated with the Nationalist Congress Party and its president, Sharad Pawar. (It's an open secret that Pawar's party supported the 2004 attack by the Sambhaji Brigade on a prestigious research institute in Pune to protest against James Laine's book on Shivaji, alleging it had insulted Maharashtra's legendary warrior king. The violence consolidated the Maratha vote in favour of Pawar, and his party won 72 seats in the assembly elections held that year.)Maratha protesters are demanding 16 per cent quotas in jobs and educationThe Supreme Court has ordered a 50% cap on reserved jobs and college seats - a limit that Maharashtra has already reached. So the Marathas have not been added to the list of beneficiaries. Moreover, three government commissions since the 1990s have stated that since the community never faced social stigma, it cannot qualify as an Other Backward Caste.In the general election in 2014, the Marathas overwhelmingly backed Narendra Modi's development agenda, siding with the BJP and abandoning Sharad Pawar. His party, then in power as part of a coalition with the Congress, moved quickly to win the Marathas back before the state election, which was held just five months after the national election. The coalition announced that an additional 16% reservation would be kept aside for the Marathas because they were economically backward - a route attempted often by state governments to circumvent the Supreme Court limit on caste-based reservation. The new recommendations of the government were based on a survey conducted by the then Industries Minister Narayan Rane, which claimed that only 12% of Marathas go to college and less than 15% are employed by the government.The Marathas spurned Mr Pawar and backed the BJP-Shiv Sena alliance in the election, but their renewed demand for reservations is based on the proposal formed by the NCP-Congress alliance.Narayan Rane's findings failed to point out the real reason for the community's backwardness was the Marathas themselves. Today, 50% of all educational institutions, 70% of district co-operative banks and 90% of the sugar factories in Maharashtra are controlled largely by a handful of Maratha politicians. Just 3,000 families own 72% of the state's total agricultural land. Power and wealth have been increasingly concentrated among an elite section. Simultaneously, the community has been let down by its leaders over the decades.Consider this. Of Maharashtra's 18 Chief Ministers since the state was formed in 1960, ten have been Marathas. The community has also contributed more than half the state's lawmakers (across parties), many of whom amassed great personal wealth and power, but failed to create jobs or promote education. A recent advertisement by the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) for filling five vacancies of porters received over 2,500 applications. The required qualification was Class IV pass, but those competing for the job included 250 postgraduates and nearly 1,000 graduates. Amongst them were young Maratha boys convinced that the reservation policy which excludes them is responsible for their unemployment. One of them told NDTV "It is worse than any atrocity committed on a Dalit because they will get compensation from the government and their future is taken care of. We beg, borrow and steal money to fund our education and then spend the rest of our lives breaking stones."Falling desperately short of visionaries, Maratha leaders have come across as just regional satraps more interested in making money for themselves and their parties through capitation or a set fee per student in colleges built by them, presiding over - even facilitating - the decline of sugar cooperatives and then buying them in sweetheart deals, and relaunching them as private sugar-processing factories that make good money."If the leaders were genuinely concerned about the backwardness of the community, then they would have addressed the issue of agricultural revival or job creation in areas like Marathwada where the vast majority of poor Marathas live, or in several parts of the so-called prosperous sugar belt of Western Maharashtra which are still underdeveloped. But they have not raised these economic concerns at the rallies, and focused only on the perceived threat to their honour and identity from the others," Professor Prakash Pawar, who teaches Political Science at Kolhapur University, told NDTV.The BJP has accused Maratha leaders in the Congress and Mr Pawar's party of orchestrating these protests to derail its government's investigation into several scams in the cooperative and irrigation sector during their rule - among those being probed are Mr Pawar's powerful nephew, Ajit Pawar, who was the state's Irrigation Minister for 10 years. But many see this mobilisation as an attempt by Maratha politicians across parties to stay relevant, at a time when other caste groups are asserting themselves in very diverse ways - they cite the rise of a highly educated class among Dalits, or the Brahmin resurgence in the BJP (apart from Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Prakash Javadekar, both senior leaders from Maharashtra, are also Brahmins.)Chief Minister Fadnavis has announced the appointment of Ujjwal Nikam as the public prosecutor in the murder of the Maratha teen and promised that the suspects will be awarded the death penalty if found guilty.Exactly ten years ago this week, on September 29, 2006, the Mumbai High Court refused to apply the SC/ST Atrocities Act to the public lynching of the wife and children of Bhaiyalal Bhotmange, a Dalit farmer in the village of Khairlanji in Maharashtra's Bhandara district. Their attackers were Kunbis, a sub-caste of the Marathas. The judges ruled it was a case of revenge killing, not a caste-based attack. The accused were sentenced to 25 years in prison. The public prosecutor in this case was also Ujjwal Nikam - while the Chief Minister of the State at the time was Vilasrao Deshmukh, a Maratha.© Copyright NDTV Convergence Limited 2016. All Rights Reserved