Subsequently, one Gajendranath Usgaonkar, president of the Gomantak Bahujan Samaj moved the court challenging the government's decision. The petitioner contended that the measure was taken with an eye to appeasing the community on the election eve.

He also pointed out that the Bhandaris were granted OBC status without a recommendation from the National Commission for Backward Classes or the Goa State Commission for Backward Classes.

According to the petitioner, the national commission, during a hearing for inclusion of castes in the central OBC list last year, had rejected the Bhandari Samaj's plea for inclusion in the OBC list. In fact, he claims, the Bhandari community is a forward caste.

The notification was issued by the Rane government after politicians belonging to the community led an agitation in this regard. Though the Bhandaris comprise the majority among the dominant Hindus in Goa, its members insist that they are economically and socially backward.

In the 1995 Lok Sabha elections, former Congress chief minister Ravi Naik, himself a Bhandari, won the election by a narrow margin of 140 votes due to the en masse voting by the community.