New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday upheld the Telangana’s domicile rule making only those students, who have studied for the last four years up to Class 12 in the state, eligible for admissions in medical and dental colleges under its quota. A bench of Chief Justice B R Gavai and Justice K Vinod Chandran allowed the appeal of the state government and its universities while upholding the Telangana Medical and Dental Colleges Admission (Admission into MBBS & BDS Courses) Rules, 2017, amended in 2024.

The rules provide for 85 per cent reservation to local students under state quota. Referring to judgements that uphold special treatment to local students in competitive exams, the top court said, “We are unable to uphold the impugned judgment dated August 29, 2023 of the High Court of Telangana.” The high court held the state’s permanent residents cannot be denied benefit of admissions in medical colleges only because they lived outside the state for sometime.