BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court denied the request of an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder to consider her for admission to the Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Dental Surgery (BDS) courses for the academic year 2024-25 in the State, under Article 371J of the Constitution and Karnataka Educational Institutions (Regulation of Admission in Hyderabad-Karnataka Region) order, 2013. It pertained to seats earmarked for students of Hyderabad-Karnataka region.
A division bench of Chief Justice NV Anjaria and Justice KV Aravind passed the order, declining the request by Meghana Kuruvalli, an OCI cardholder under Section 7A of the Citizenship Act, to issue direction to the Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) to consider her case for admission. “OCI cardholders who are foreign citizens cannot claim equation with the beneficiary class governed by the object and purpose of Article 371J,” the court observed, disposing of the petition.
The court also stated that eligibility as a local person cannot be merely on domicile basis, but is subject to the candidate being a citizen of India. In the concept of the local person, as mentioned for the purpose of Article 371J, citizenship is in-built and indispensable. The petitioner is a citizen of the United Kingdom but since she is an OCI cardholder, she cannot be considered to be qualified with the category of students who are eligible and entitled to seek benefits under Article 371J of the Constitution, the court noted.