Hyderabad: The Telangana High Court on Wednesday, May 14, directed the state government to file detailed counter affidavits regarding the Scheduled Castes (SC) Subclassification Act.
The court made it clear that it would not interfere in the ongoing degree admissions process currently being conducted through the DOST (Degree Online Services, Telangana) platform.
Petitions challenge SC Subclassification Act
The petitions challenging the SC Subclassification Act were filed by G Chennayya, president of Mala Mahanadu, and Gaddam Shankar, vice-president of the Scheduled Castes United Forum. A special vacation bench comprising Justice Pulla Karthik and Justice Nandikonda Nursing Rao heard the case.
Senior advocates representing the petitioners argued that the implementation of the SC Subclassification Act, along with Government Orders (GOs) 33, 9, 10, and 99, should be stayed. They pointed out that the state government had previously assured the court that counter affidavits would be filed, but this had not yet happened.
The petitioners also contended that the state government does not have the authority to implement SC subclassification and requested interim orders to prevent the implementation of the Act during the ongoing admissions process.
They specifically asked the court to direct that no seat allocations be made under the new subclassification rules.
AG strongly objects request for interim orders
In response, Advocate General Sudarshan Reddy strongly objected to the request for interim orders. He cited several Supreme Court judgments which state that courts should not issue interim orders when the validity of a law is under challenge.
He argued that the admissions process is under the jurisdiction of the universities and follows the academic calendar, with no interference from the government.
The Advocate General also noted that the process of SC subclassification had already been completed and that similar petitions had been filed in the past challenging the commission set up to study the issue, but no interim orders were issued by the court at that time.
After hearing arguments from both sides, the bench directed the government to file comprehensive counter affidavits with all relevant details.
The court postponed further hearing to June 10 and reiterated that it would not issue any interim orders affecting the ongoing degree admissions process through DOST.
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