Telangana domicile quota for MBBS admissions: SC seeks state's response

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has issued a notice to the Telangana government asking it to reply to a petition filed by several medical aspirants requesting inclusion under the domicile quota for MBBS admissions

A division bench comprising Justice PK Mishra and Justice AG Masih passed the order while hearing pleas filed by several medical aspirants who want to be included under the local quota in the counselling process. During the hearing, the apex court asked the state to respond within four weeks in this regard. 

These aspirants have challenged the state government's recent order that changed the rules for the local quota. They argued that they were born in Telangana and so were their parents, and hence they should be considered eligible.

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Further, the aspirants claimed that counselling for MBBS admissions would start immediately after the NEET UG results are declared on June 14. On this, the court allowed the aspirants to approach the court again even during the vacation if there is any urgent matter.

Following this, the apex court gave all parties four weeks to file their replies and scheduled the next hearing four weeks later, reports TOI. 

Medical Dialogues few weeks ago, reported that the Supreme Court deferred to June 2 a hearing on pleas against a Telangana high court verdict holding that the state's permanent residents cannot be denied benefits of admissions in medical colleges merely because they lived elsewhere. The top court was hearing an appeal against the Telangana High Court verdict holding that the state's permanent residents cannot be denied the benefit of admission in the medical colleges merely because they lived outside and did not study Classes 9, 10, 11 and 12 at schools in the state.

The state government, by the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission Rules, 2017, as amended in 2024, mandated that only those who have studied for four years up to class 12 in the state will be entitled to admissions in the medical and dental colleges under the state quota.

The bench, on September 30 last year, had observed that Telangana has a "legitimate interest" in pressing for domicile certificates in granting admissions in medical colleges, even as it asked the state government whether it can put on abeyance its domicile policy for the current academic year.

Prior to this, the SC bench had stayed the high court order that permanent residents or those domiciled in the state cannot be denied the benefit of admission to medical colleges merely because of their study or residence outside Telangana.