Telangana Local Quota in Medical Colleges- Supreme Court to Consider Matter
New Delhi: The Supreme Court bench will now consider whether a permanent resident of Telangana required to study in the State for 4 continuous years to get admitted to MBBS or BDS courses in the domicile quota seats.
Although recently the Telangana High Court held that permanent residents of the State did not need to study in Telangana for 4 continuous years for MBBS and BDS admission in the domicile quota seats, the State has challenged the order before the Apex Court bench comprising Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud, Justices JP Pardiwala and Manoj Misra.
In this regard, Senior Advocate Gopal Sankaranarayanan, the counsel for the State of Telangana on September 12 submitted before the Apex Court bench, "High Court has struck down and watered down the domicile requirement for medical admissions, the deadlines have been sent, this SLP is by the state asking for that to be reconsidered."
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that more than 50 pleas were filed before the Telangana HC challenging the validity of Rule 3(a) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules 2017 as amended vide the GO dated July 19, 2024, which made it mandatory for the MBBS and BDS aspirants to study continuously from Classes 9 to 12 in the State.
As per the rules, a candidate seeking admission under 'Competent Authority Quota' for local candidates required to study in the State of Telangana for a period of 4 years or reside in the state for 4 years.
Approaching the HC bench, the petitioner claimed to be permanent residents of Telangana and prayed for a direction to treat them as local candidates for admission into MBBS/BDS courses.
They argued that due to the amended rules, they became ineligible for the local quota of 85 percent seats reserved for the permanent residents of Telangana. They also pointed out that the identically-worded rule was held to be unconstitutional and was struck down by a Division bench of the Telangana HC earlier.
On the other hand, the State had argued before the HC bench that it was open for the State to provide reservation based on the domicile/residence. The State claimed that the amendment was introduced to the rule to help the local candidates.
However, recently the HC bench clarified that the rule requiring 'four years continuous study from classes 9 to 12' is not applicable to permanent residents of domiciles of Telangana.
The Court held that the permanent residents of Telangana could not be denied the benefit of admission in the State only because their study or resident was outside Telangana. It clarified that these students should not be excluded from the admission process on the ground that they did not pass the qualifying examination from Telangana.
"An interpretation which advances the object and purpose of the Act has to be preferred. The object of Rule 3(a) of the 2017 rules, as amended on July 19, 2024, is to provide reservation for local candidates. In case the rule is struck down, then students from all over the country will become entitled to admission in medical colleges situated in Telangana and the domicile/permanent residents of the state would be deprived of the benefit of admission. Therefore, we read down Rule 3(a) and 3(iii) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017, as amended on July 19. It is held that the aforesaid rule shall not apply to permanent residents of the Telangana," the HC bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas had held.
However, the Court had not struck down the rule completely, holding that it would allow students from across the country to seek admission in Telangana's medical colleges, potentially disadvantaging the state's permanent residents.
Therefore, the Court had suggested the State to frame the guidelines/rules to determine as to when a student can be considered as a permanent resident of the State of Telangana.
"We direct that Rule 3(a) of the 2017 Rules, as amended vide G.O.Ms.No.33, dated 19.07.2024, will be interpreted to mean that the petitioners shall be eligible to admission in the medical colleges in the State of Telangana, if their domicile is of State of Telangana or if they are permanent residents of the State of Telangana. It is stated at the bar that there are no guidelines/rules framed by the State Government to ascertain whether a student is a domicile/permanent resident of the State of Telangana. We, therefore, grant the liberty to the Government to frame the guidelines/rules to determine as to when a student can be considered as a permanent resident of the State of Telangana," the Court ordered.
Medical Dialogues had earlier reported that last year also, in a major relief to the permanent residents of Telangana seeking MBBS/BDS admission in the State, the High Court had clarified that Rule 3(III) (B) of Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules-2017 would not be applicable for the permanent residents of Telangana.
Back then, the bench, however, did not strike down the rule observing "Since this rule is associated with rule 3(III)(C) which allows only those students as locals who studied here for seven previous consecutive years, we are not striking it down because it would open the space for outsiders contrary to the Presidential Order that protects local reservations."
As per the latest media report by Live Law, the Apex Court bench comprising CJI DY Chandrachud, and Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra has now agreed to consider the matter.
