No 10 per cent EWS quota for PG courses in Maharashtra

New Delhi, May 31: The Supreme Court said that 10 per cent EWS (Economically Weaker Section) quota cannot be applied to PG medical courses in Maharashtra for the academic year 2019-20 as admission process started long before the provision came into force.

A vacation bench of Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justice Aniruddha Bose said 10 per cent EWS quota cannot be granted at the cost of others unless additional seats are created by the Medical Council of India.

The bench noted that admission process for PG medical courses started in November 2018 while the 103 Constitutional amendment granting 10 per cent EWS quota was passed in January this year.

The bench said the Maharashtra government enforced the 10 EWS quota for PG medical courses in March.

"Ten per cent EWS quota cannot be granted to the ongoing admission process. You cannot change the rules of game when the game is on," the bench said.

The court's order came on a plea filed by a student from General Category saying that unless additional seats are created, the ten per cent EWS quota will eat into their share of seats.

The student Rajat Rajendra Agrawal had challenged two circulars of the Maharashtra government by which ten per cent EWS quota was enforced in PG medical courses of the state.