New Delhi: In a setback for the Maharashtra government, the Supreme Court on Thursday struck down its notifications to protect the admissions of students in the post-graduate courses.

On May 20, state governor C Vidyasagar Rao had signed an ordinance to provide quota under the Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC) Reservation Act, 2018, to candidates from the Maratha community seeking admission to post-graduate medical and dental courses.

The ordinance route was taken by the state government after the Supreme Court struck down reservations for Maratha students under the SEBC quota in PG medical and dental courses this year. The ruling cancelled admissions granted to 253 students under the quota.

On Thursday, the apex court ruled that there will be no quota benefits for EWS candidates enrolled in post-graduate medical and dental courses in Maharashtra for 2019-20.

The court observed that the state introduced EWS quota after the admission process had already commenced. The seats must be increased first, the court said.

It also quashed admissions made under EWS quota among the general category candidates.

The ordinance was aimed to further explain the intent of the state government to provide quota for the Maratha community.

The state government had earlier clarified that the quota was applicable from the time it released the prospectus for the said courses in February 2019.

The state government had also sought more medical and dental seats from the Centre.

The Devendra Fadnavis government had on November 30 last year cleared a 16 per cent quota for the community in education and government jobs, identifying them as Socially and Economically Backward Class (SEBC).

In March this year, the government had issued a notification for the implementation of the quota in educational institutions.