Supreme Court dismisses petition against provisions of Maratha Reservations

MUMBAI: The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld an order of the Nagpur bench of Bombay high court by which provisions of Maratha Reservations were made inapplicable to admissions for 2019-20 to Post Graduate medical and dental college admissions.
The SC dismissed a special leave petition (SLP) filed by the Maharashtra state against an order of May 2 by Nagpur bench of the Bombay high court.
The SC bench of Justices Nageswara Rao and MR Shah felt that since the admission process had already begun last year the HC order was right. Section 16 (2) of the SEBC Act bars the grant of reservation if process of entrance test had already started before the Act came into force. State counsel Mukul Rohatgi said that the students who had been given seats under the SEBC quota were allotted admissions also under the all India quota. They had left their allotments under the All India and come to Maharashtra hence they would stand to lose.
However, Dhruv Mehta counsel for the original petitioners before the HC—students—said that if the Maratha reservations were allowed this year, meriorius students who would other have got top colleges may be pushed back and have to pay higher fees to secure seats in private colleges.
State’s other counsel Nishant Katneshwarkar later when asked by the SC bench said that the state’s quota came into picture in February after publication of brochure and hence the notification to include Maratha reservation for PG medical admissions is valid. Katneshwarkar sought extension of time to re-do the seat allocations as directed by the HC. He sought time till May 31. The SC however gave the state time till May 25. The last round for admissions was to close on May 18, now it will close on May 25.
The HC had said that a seat allocation dated March 27 which makes provisions for category of Socially and Educationally Backward (SEBC) candidates “being illegal’’ shall not be given effect to for SEBC reservations in the current admission process.
The state has to complete the admission process with laws and rules in force before commencement of SEBC Act, 2018.
The state had in its SLP before the SC said that those who applied for admission under the NEET-PG and NEET-MDS were informed though brochures issued earlier about the reservations under SEBC Act and hence the provisions of Maratha reservations were invoked correctly.
The HC in its order on May 2 had partly allowed a challenge raised by students to a recent notification issued by the state. The HC interim order passed by the Nagpur HC bench of Justices SB Shukre and Pushpa Ganediwala had directed that the notification dated March 8, 2019 shall apply only to medical admission process which has started or would start on or after November 30, 2019, but subject to the outcome of other writ petitions, if pending. The HC order had made it clear that the “notification would have no application to the present medical admission process for 2019 which began on October 16, 2018 and November 2."
There are a bunch of public Interest Litigation (PIL) which have challenged the very constitutional validity of the 2018 law on Maratha reservations in Maharashtra. The Bombay HC bench of Justices Ranjit More and Bharati Dangre which had heard the challenge to the law had reserved the matter for judgement, which is likely to be passed once the court resumes after the summer break.
The admissions granted in the state's first allotment list will now thus stand cancelled. The earlier seat matrix was made taking into account the SEBC quota. An official from the state's CET cell said that they will have to make a fresh seat matrix and get it approved from the state government and release a new allocation list. While students from the open category are relieved after the apex court's decision, aspirants from Maratha quota have decided to launch a fresh agitation from tomorrow. These doctors, seeking admission to PG seats, have cancelled admissions in all-India quota in other states after securing a seat under the Maratha quota in their home state.