THE BONE OF CONTENTION

The Nagpur bench of

Bombay high court (HC) on May 2 had ruled that the newlyintroduced 16% SEBC quota for Marathas will not apply to postgraduate (PG) medical and dental courses in the state for the upcoming academic year (2019-20)

In its verdict, the court also rendered the government's distribution of seats in medical and dental colleges to various caste groups to be illegal, even as the first round of admissions was completed

A division bench of justice Sunil Shukre and justice Pushpa Ganediwala had ruled that 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

Admissions under the SEBC quota were cancelled after the HC verdict. The state is looking at legal options to restore them. TP LAHANE, state director, medical education and research

registration process for their respective National Eligibility-cumentrance Tests (NEET) had begun on October 16, 2018, and November 2, 2018, respectively

However, the quota will apply to the courses whose admissions will start on or after November 30, 2019 The judgement was made in response to three petitions challenging the implementation of the Maratha quota in PG medical and dental courses

On May 9, the SC rejected a plea by the government against the HC verdict

HT FILE Medical students from the Maratha community had protested at Azad Maidan on May 11, urging the government to help them secure admissions under the SEBC quota in postgraduate medical and dental courses this year.