Hyderabad: A two-judge panel of the Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) and Telangana State to provisionally consider a group of students as “local” candidates for admission into undergraduate medical and dental courses under the Competent Authority Quota, pending adjudication of their writ petitions. The panel comprising Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice P. Sam Koshy entertained a batch of writ appeals filed by 32 students challenging Rule 3(a) of the Telangana Medical & Dental Colleges Admission Rules, 2017, as amended by GO dated July 19, 2024, which requires four years of study or residence in Telangana to qualify as a local candidate for admission under the Competent Authority Quota. The petitioners contended that Rule 3(a), as reflected in the recent Notification and Prospectus issued by Kaloji Narayana Rao University of Health Sciences (KNRUHS) on July 15, is arbitrary and violative of the Constitution. Several petitioners, represented by senior counsel B. Mayur Reddy assailed the criteria as arbitrary and discriminatory. It was argued that the High Court had, in earlier decisions rendered in 2023 and 2024, interpreted Rule 3(a) to include the permanent residents or domiciles of Telangana, and not restrict eligibility solely to the four-year academic study or residence condition. The court in those matters had further directed the state government to frame specific norms to identify domicile status, as no such formal guidelines existed. Petitioners pointed out that despite these directions, the state failed to formulate any such criteria, and the latest prospectus issued by KNRUHS on July 15, 2025, continues to enforce the earlier requirement, thereby excluding deserving candidates. They also informed the panel that the state had obtained an interim stay of the earlier High Court rulings from the SC, but only after submitting that the students would still be allowed to participate in counselling as “local” candidates. In light of the urgency, particularly that the registration deadline ends on July 25, the petitioners sought interim protection. The panel taking note of similar directions issued on a prior date in connected matters, extended the same interim relief to the present group of students. The panel directed KNRUHS and the state authorities to allow them to register and apply as local candidates, clarifying that this would be subject to the final outcome of the case.
