Justice T Vinod Kumar of the Telangana High Court (HC) has issued an interim stay order on the PhD admissions at Kakatiya University, halting the process of filling new seats based on an old merit list notification.
The court raised concerns about the fairness and legality of using the previous notification's merit list to fill newly created seats, questioning how this process would affect those who have completed their postgraduate (PG) studies and wish to take the exam again, stated a report by P Bhanuprakash, representing Kakatiya University, and the Government Pleader (GP) for the Department of Higher Education presented their arguments, stated a report by The New Indian Express.
During the hearing, Justice Vinod Kumar's bench emphasised that the number of seats filled cannot exceed those specified in the original notification.
The bench expressed the need for a transparent and equitable process in managing PhD admissions, ensuring that all eligible candidates have a fair opportunity.
The writ petition was filed by Advocate K Shravan Kumar on behalf of the petitioner, Challa Amarender Reddy from the Engineering Department.
The petition called for a re-issuance of the notification for the new seats, advocating for equal opportunity for all qualified candidates.
The petitioner argued that using the old notification's merit list to fill new seats would be unfair to recent postgraduates (PG) who were not part of the previous admission process.
After considering the points raised, the court passed an interim order stating that no admissions should proceed based on the Registrar's order dated August 16, 2024, which intended to fill new PhD seats using the old notification's merit list, stated The New Indian Express report.
