Mumbai: The Supreme Court Thursday dismissed the Maharashtra government’s petition pertaining to Maratha reservation in post-graduate medical courses.

The apex court upheld the decision of the Nagpur bench of the 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 decision will ensure that admission is not given as per Maratha reservation in post-graduate medical courses.

Meanwhile, Vinod Patil, president of the R.R. Patil Foundation, said that the state government should take a positive decision within 24 hours about medical aspirants from the Maratha community.

The Bombay high court’s Nagpur bench on May 2 ruled that the newly-introduced socially and economically backward castes’ (SEBC) quota for Marathas will not be applicable to PG medical and dental courses in the state for the academic year of 2019-20.

The SC bench of Justices Nageswara Rao and M.R. Shah dismissed the state government’s special leave petition (SLP) filed against the Nagpur bench’s judgment. The apex court oberved that since the admission process had already begun last year, the HC order was right.

Section 16 (2) of the SEBC Act barred the grant of reservation if the process of entrance test had already started before the Act came into force.

State counsel Mukul Rohatgi stated that the students who were given seats under the SEBC quota had also been given admission under the all India quota. They left their allotments under the all India quota and came to Maharashtra which is why they would stand to lose.