Supreme Court stays Telangana HC order on local quota in MBBS admissions

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday stayed a Telangana High Court order, which ruled that permanent residents or those domiciled in the state cannot be denied the benefit of admission in the medical colleges in the state merely because of their study or residence outside Telangana.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justices J B Pardiwala and Manoj Misra issued notice on an appeal filed by the state government and response from petitioner Kalluri Naga Narasimha Abhiram, who appeared before the high court.

The state government, however, agreed before the top court to grant a one-time exception for the petitioners, who had approached the high court.

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for Telangana, assured the court that a one-time exception would be given to 135 students, who appeared before the high court.

"Till next listing, without prejudice to the aforesaid statement made by the Telangana government, the impugned order of the High Court dated September 5, 2024, shall remain stayed," the bench said.

The top court was hearing an appeal filed by the Telangana government challenging the September 5 order of the high court.

In its appeal, the state government contended that high court erroneously held that Rule 3(a) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017, as amended in 2024, to be interpreted to mean that the respondents shall be eligible to admission in the medical colleges in Telangana.

The rule mandated that students seeking admission in Telangana medical colleges must have studied for four consecutive years in the state before the qualifying exam.

"Such an order by the High Court overlooks the fact the State of Telangana possesses the legislative competence to determine various requirements, including domicile, permanent resident status etc., to determine admission of students in the universities in the state of Telangana," the appeal stated.

The state government said the judgement of the high court will mandate the state to prepare the new rules for admission which is a time-consuming process.

"After framing the rules students have to apply and collect the requisite certificates from concerned authorities. The each certificate submitted by the student needs to be verified by the Health University. Whereas the present rule prescribes that the students can produce their educational certificate without approaching any office or authority. If the judgement of the High Court is implemented, it will result in a huge delay in the allotment of seats to MBBS and BDS students," the plea said.

Inputs from PTI