NEET PG 2025: Telangana HC rejects doctor's challenge to local candidate criteria

Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court recently refused to grant relief to a postgraduate medical aspirant, who challenged the local candidate eligibility criteria prescribed in the National Eligibility Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET PG) 2025 prospectus.

Noting that the petitioner had approached the Court for relief after the completion of the first round of counselling, the HC Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin refused to grant her any relief solely on the ground of delay in approaching the court.

The matter concerned the petitioner doctor, who pursued her MBBS from ESIC Medical College, Sanathnagar, Hyderabad. For the MBBS course, the petitioner secured admission back in 2018 through the ESIC IP quota. Thereafter, she underwent compulsory rotatory internship at the same institute between April 2023 and March 2024.

Willing to pursue postgraduate medical education, the petitioner appeared in the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test Postgraduate (NEET-PG) 2025 and secured an all-India rank of 60133.

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As per the latest media report by Deccan Chronicle, the doctor challenged the prospectus issued by the KNR University of Health Sciences in September, pointing out that it defined eligibility for local candidates under Explanation (b) of Rule VIII(ii) of the Telangana Medical Colleges (Admission into Postgraduate Medical Courses) Rules, 2021, as amended by GO dated October 28, 2024.

It was argued that the petitioner that the residence-based criterion violated Article 14 of the Constitution and was contrary to the Supreme Court's ruling.

While considering the matter, the HC bench observed that the petitioner had approached the Court after the completion of the first round of counselling, despite being aware of her non-local status under the prospectus.

Apart from this, the HC bench also observed that the candidates who were vigilant and approached the Court at an earlier stage were granted interim protection. However, the belated challenges could not be entertained, noted the HC bench. Observing that the delay disentitled the petitioner from any relief, the panel refused to interfere at this stage.

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