HYDERABAD: The Telangana High Court has reserved its orders on a series of writ petitions challenging 100% reservations for local candidates seeking admission to MBBS/BDS courses in colleges located within the State.
The writ petitions question the validity of GO 72, dated July 3, 2023, allotting the entire quota of MBBS/BDS seats in medical colleges established after June 2, 2014, exclusively to students from Telangana. The GO effectively excludes students from Andhra Pradesh from getting admission to these colleges.
A bench comprising Chief Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice NV Shravan Kumar heard a clutch of writ petitions filed by students from various districts of Andhra Pradesh.
The legal representatives of the petitioners argued that as per Section 95 of the AP Reorganisation Act 2014, the existing reservations were to be upheld for a period of 10 years, and any alterations to seat-sharing ratios were prohibited. Additionally, they cited Clause (7) of the Presidential Order under Article 371D, which outlines special provisions for equal opportunity in matters of public employment and education for the states of AP and Telangana.
Advocate General BS Prasad, countered these arguments by saying that as of June 2, 2014, there were 20 medical colleges in the Telangana region with a total of 2,850 seats available. Of these, 280 seats were allocated under the 15% quota in 20 colleges. Subsequently, an additional 33 seats were added, bringing the total to 313 seats under the 15% quota.
The AG said that starting from 2019, 540 seats under the NEET would be part of the national pool along with the existing 313 seats, resulting in a total of 853 seats available for AP students to compete for.