Telangana MBBS/BDS Admissions : Supreme Court Stays HC Judgment Which Removed '4 Year Consecutive Study' Criteria For Local Quota

The Supreme Court on Friday (September 20) issued notice on the Special Leave Petition filed by the State of Telangana challenging the Telangana High Court's judgment which removed the '4 years' continuous study or residence requirement in the State' for permanent residents to secure admission in local quota seats in MBBS or BDS courses.

The State however agreed before the Supreme Court to grant a one-time exception for the petitioners who had approached the High Court.

The led by CJI DY Chandrachud and comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra was hearing the challenge to the order of the Telangana High Court which held that a permanent resident need not be required to study or reside in Telangana for 4 continuous years to get the benefit of domicile quota in medical admissions. 

Before the High Court, a batch of petitions challenged the validity of Rule 3(a) of Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017 (Rules 2017) which was amended by the State on July 19. The amendment was done as per  G.O no.33 dated 19.7.2024.

The amended Rule 3(a) of Rules 2017 provides that a candidate seeking admission under the 'Competent Authority Quota' for local candidates must study in the State of Telangana for a period of 4 consecutive years or reside in the state for 4 years.  In addition, the candidate has to pass the qualifying examination from the State of Telangana.

The CJI recorded the statement by Senior Advocate AM Singhvi on instructions from the Telangana State Government that a one-time exception for the present 135 students before the High Court could be carved, in terms of relaxing the local quota criteria for medical admissions. The bench while issuing notice, also stayed the operation of the impugned decision. 

"The petitioners before the High Court (the respondents before this court), who will be governed by the impugned HC order, shall be permitted to participate in the ongoing counselling process which is to end on 30 September 2024. The statement is accepted. Issue notice, returnable after 3 weeks, counter to be filed in the meanwhile. Till next listing, without prejudice to the aforesaid statement made by Telangana Govt, the impugned order of HC dated 5 September 2024 shall remain stayed." 

Singhvi, at the outset also highlighted how permitting Telugu-speaking students from abroad to get the benefit of domicile quota would frustrate the very essence of a 'local quota seat' 

"There is a large Telugu Diaspora abroad, it lives abroad, they take exams abroad...they will come and take NEET locally , with the entire local people displaced. The Andhra person can come and take it here - the whole idea is local domicile." 

Senior Advocate Dr S Murlidhar appearing for the original petitioners before the High Court contended that an identical GO of the State setting local quota criteria was struck down by the High Court in August 2023. 

He added that while the petitioners were waiting for their NEET results to be released on July 26, the Government introduced the impugned G.O. on July 19. 

"The Students don't even know they would hit by something like this!"  

The matter will now be heard in October. 

Senior Advocate DVS Somayajulu, Senior Advocate PB Suresh and AOR Vipin Nair also appeared for caveators. 

Background 

Before the Telangana High Court, a batch of petitioners challenged the validity of Rule 3(a) of Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017 (Rules 2017) which was amended by the State on July 19.

As per the impugned provision, a candidate seeking admission under the 'Competent Authority Quota' for local candidates requires him or her to study in the State of Telangana for a period of 4 years or reside in the state for 4 years.

Notably, Rule 3(iii) provides 85% reservations to 'local candidates' for permanent residents of the State.

In its judgment, the bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao focused on Rule 3(a) of the 2017 Rules, as amended by G.O.Ms.No.33 on July 19, 2024. The primary purpose of this rule is to reserve seats for local candidates in medical colleges. The court recognized that if this rule were to be completely struck down, it would allow students from across the country to seek admission in Telangana's medical colleges, potentially disadvantaging the state's permanent residents.

The Court also noted that a more stringent condition has been added that the candidate has to pass the qualifying exam in the State of Telangana.

The bench "read down" Rule 3(a) and 3(iii) of the 2017 Rules to interpret that the rules should not apply to the permanent residents of Telangana. The High Court construed the same in line with Article 371D(2)(b)(ii) of the Indian Constitution, which allows for special provisions to be made for people from different parts of the state regarding admission to educational institutions.

"Therefore, we read down the Rule 3(a) and 3(iii) of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017, as amended vide G.O.Ms.No.33, dated 19.07.2024. It is held that the aforesaid Rule shall not apply to permanent residents of the State of Telangana. Thus, by reading down the Rule in the manner indicated above shall also be in consonance of object of Article 371D(2)(b)(ii) of the Constitution of India i.e., of making special provision to the people of different parts of State for admission to educational institutions."

The High Court also suggested the State 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

"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."

Notably, in August 2023, the High Court's Division Bench of Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice T. Vinod Kumar read down Rule 3(III)(B) of 2017 Rules.

Rule 3(III)(B) of the 2017 Rules stipulated that a person shall be deemed to be a local candidate, if he/she has either studied four consecutive years preceding the exam in the State or, has lived for 7 consecutive years in the State preceding the exam.

The bench refrained from striking down the Rule honouring the object of the legislation, which is to provide reservations for local candidates. The Court rather read it down, holding that the same will not be applicable to permanent residents of the State.

Case Details : THE STATE OF TELANGANA AND ORS. Versus KALLURI NAGA NARASIMHA ABHIRAM AND ORS. SLP(C) No. 21536-21588/2024

Click Here To Read/Download Order