Supreme Court
Hyderabad: The Supreme Court has issued notices to the Telangana government in response to interim applications filed by several students seeking the benefit of the local quota in MBBS admissions.
The court, comprising Justice PK Mishra and Justice AG Masih, directed the state to respond within four weeks during a hearing held on Monday, June 2/
Senior advocate Gautham Narayan, representing the students, argued that eight students who appeared for NEET-UG this year and were born and raised in Telangana were denied the local quota benefit due to a state rule.
According to this rule, only those who studied continuously in Telangana for four years prior to NEET are considered local. As a result, even students who completed grades 1 to 10 in Telangana but pursued grades 11 and 12 in another state were excluded from the local quota.
The advocate highlighted that this rule was introduced after the academic year had already begun, by which time the students had already enrolled in intermediate courses outside Telangana.
He contended that students from other states who studied in Telangana for four consecutive years could claim 85 percent reservation under the local quota, but native Telangana students who studied grades 11 and 12 elsewhere were being unfairly excluded.
Justice PK Mishra advised the petitioners to approach the High Court for relief. However, the students’ counsel pointed out that since the case is currently pending before the Supreme Court, the High Court is unable to decide on the matter.
He also requested that the students be allowed to participate in the upcoming NEET-UG counselling, which is set to begin soon after the results are announced on June 14.
In response, Justice Mishra issued notices to the Telangana government and clarified that if any urgent situation arises, the petitioners may mention the matter before the vacation benches.
Former Advocate General Sriram, representing other students, argued that the state’s local quota rule adversely affects genuine “sons of the soil.” Justice Mishra, in a light-hearted remark, noted that these “sons of the soil” had moved to another land.
Senior advocates L Narasimha Reddy, Jandhyala Ravishankar, and Shravan Kumar appeared for the state government.
This post was last modified on June 3, 2025 9:56 am