Marathas hunt for another route to avail SEBC quota

Thwarted in their efforts to restore admission of 250 students in PG medical and dental courses under the Socially and Educationally Backward Class (SEBC) category, Maratha activists are exploring legal options. They are currently studying the clarification by the Supreme Court's vacation bench that reservation of any class comes into play only during admissions. The bench comprising justices Indira Banerjee and Sanjiv Khanna on Monday, while hearing a plea seeking 10 per cent quota for the economically weaker section (EWS) in Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET)-2019 said that the CTET is merely a qualifying examination and the issue of reservation will come up only at the time of admission.

The Nagpur bench of the Bombay High Court had recently ruled the state government's March 8 notification pertaining to SEBC quota in health science courses will not apply to PG dental and medical admissions, as the registration process for their respective National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Tests (NEET) had begun on October 16 and November 2, respectively. However, the state government in its special leave petition, which was subsequently dismissed by the apex court, argued that even though the admissions process for PG dental and medical courses started before the SEBC Act 2018 came into force, the admission process began only after the law was enacted.

Reservation expert Balasaheb Sarate said the Supreme Court clarification has come at a time when the admission of 250 students in PG medical and dental courses was cancelled under SEBC category in the state. The apex court has clearly said that there is no question of allotment of quota to any category at the time of the entrance test. However, the actual reservation process starts with the begining of admission process. The Supreme Court in its observation has delinked the timing of entrance test and the admission process. He informed that the apex court clarification is being currently studied and thereafter, a review petition will be filed in the apex court for the restoration of admission of 250 students under SEBC category.

Meanwhile, students, who have launched an agitation in the city, reiterated that the state government should issue an order under section 17 (1) of the SEBC Act, 2018 to remove all hurdles in the restoration of admissions of 250 students in PG medical and health courses.

Spiking Maratha Guns

Earlier this month, the Nagpur Bench of the Bombay HC directed the State government not to apply SEBC quota to the postgraduate medical admissions this year, and issue a fresh seat matrix. The state government moved the SC against the HC order which upheld the verdict cancelling 16% reservation for PG medical seats in state