After the Telangana High Court struck down GO (Government Order) 148 yesterday, December 17, the Government of Telangana have now gone to the Supreme Court challenging the order, petitioners told EdexLive.
The appeal, “The State of Telangana vs S Satyanarayana” was filed in the Supreme Court at 3:14 PM today, December 18, under diary number 59566/2024 by Advocate Sravan Kumar Karanam, the Standing Counsel for the State of Telangana in the Supreme Court.
A bench led by the Chief Justice of Telangana Alok Aradhe and Justice J Sreenivas Rao revoked Explanation (b) to Rule VIII(ii) of the Telangana Medical Colleges (Admission into Post Graduate Medical Courses) Rules, 2021, which was amended by the GO dated October 28.
The Amendment rendered candidates of the National Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test 2024 (NEET-PG 2024) who completed their MBBS, BAMS (Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery) or BHMS (Bachelor of Homeopathic Medicine and Surgery) from Telangana, but finished their schooling outside the state ineligible for the NEET-PG Telangana State Counselling.
Calling the provision of the GO unconstitutional, the Telangana High Court struck it down, allowing these candidates to appear for the local category seats for the academic year 2024-25.
A matter of hurt egos?
According to Dr Yaganti Siva Rama Krishna, one of the petitioners, the Telangana Government knew that the Telangana High Court would not uphold GO 148.
“We are sure that the Supreme Court would not entertain the appeal either, as the Telangana High Court already spent eight hearings on the petition. It is clear that the Government of Telangana moved to the Supreme Court to soothe its bruised ego” he says.
Moreover, the Government not releasing the State Merit List after the High Court’s verdict, and choosing to challenge it is also a big testament to this, he adds.
Dr Siva further alleges that the Government of Telangana is only delaying the admissions counselling in the state so that more seats could be added to the paid/management quota.
However, he says that these delays only hinder the futures of the aspirants from Telangana. “Not a lot of candidates from the state apply in the All India Counselling, as it requires them to rank above 5,000. Only 30-40 students in the state are in that rank range. As a result, the majority of aspirants only appear for State Counselling. These delays only end up delaying their admissions,” he says.
“The Supreme Court would be on vacation from December 21 to January 1, and the chances of them hearing the Telangana Government’s appeal are slim. It is evident that the State Counselling would move ahead only next year,” he adds.
