The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Telangana government’s domicile rule that restricts state-quota admissions in medical and dental colleges to students who have studied in the state for the last four years up to Class 12.
A bench comprising Chief Justice B.R. Gavai and Justice K. Vinod Chandran allowed the appeal filed by the Telangana government and affirmed the validity of the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017, as amended in 2024.
Under the amended rules, only students who have completed their last four years of study, including Class 12, within Telangana are eligible to claim seats under the state quota.
The decision came after the Telangana High Court had earlier struck down the provision, holding that permanent residents of the state could not be denied admission benefits merely because they had lived outside Telangana for some time.
The apex court, however, disagreed and restored the rule, observing that the state is within its rights to frame domicile-based criteria for admissions to professional courses under its quota.
The case was argued by senior advocate Abhishek Singhvi and advocate Sravan Kumar Karnam on behalf of the state government. The Supreme Court had reserved its verdict on August 5 after hearing multiple pleas, including the one challenging the High Court’s order.
